Taking Back Omega
by Lady Alila
Summary: Aria T'Loak's plan to take back Omega has come to fruition. She asks for Shepard's aid, but requests Shepard help her alone. Garrus isn't about to stand for that. -Major Omega DLC spoilers, with mentions of Leviathan. Shakarian. Rated M for language.-
1. -1-

A/N: Characters again belong to Bioware

Once again I have to take to fanfiction to elaborate on things in game (and break my cardinal rule not to have multiple chaptered stories going on at once). This time with the Omega DLC. When I first heard that your squad would not be coming with Shepard to Omega, that lessened the excitement for me. The strong appeal for the Leviathan DLC was your squad actually interacting with Shepard and reacting to the situation. But I resolved to play through Omega and give it its fair shot.

After having played it, I have very mixed feelings about it. I feel like there was a lot there that had potential, but just either fell flat or never came to fruition (that annoys me more than it just being flat out terrible). In the beginning, I was into it, then it just felt kind of rushed towards the end and there was no real final choice to make like I was expecting (though I sense Aria's actions at the end probably vary depending on how Shepard acts throughout). After it was over, I was half expecting something else, like being able to return to Omega, but Aria was back on her couch in Purgatory, saying it was easier for her to coordinate back on the Citadel (have a _really_ hard time believing she would just leave Omega after getting it back).

Even if you feel satisfied with the DLC, I still hope you enjoy my retelling of taking back Omega, with more emphasis on the Shakarian pairing than would ever be allowed in the game. That's why fanfiction exists in this world :)

* * *

-1-

"Huh…the great Commander Shepard. And me without my autograph book," the batarian, Bray, greeted her at her approach, sarcasm oozing from the words.

"Save it," Shepard replied curtly, not in the mood for dealing with a smart ass, especially not a batarian mercenary. After the raid on Mindoir, it had taken years to see those four-eyed aliens as anything other than monsters. Even now, her deep-seated distrust and resentment for them lingered in the back of her mind like a virus, burrowing in the deep recesses of her subconscious.

"Just take me to Aria," Shepard demanded, fixing him with a piercing stare. The Normandy had been about to head out to Thessia, when Traynor commed her, telling her she had an urgent message from an important acquaintance. Aria T'Loak was ready to initiate her plans and she essentially demanded Shepard drop everything to come and meet with her.

As Bray escorted her through the door and security field, she recalled how close she had been to brushing Aria off, but Omega was crucial. If snatched from Cerberus hands, it would aid the Alliance and everyone stationed in that sector. It would weaken Cerberus operations.

Also it never hurt to remember Aria's one rule, even if Aria wasn't on Omega anymore.

Bray paused in front of a transport console, staring out at the gaping floor as if waiting for something.

"So where is she?" Shepard spun around the platform, seeing no sign of the asari. Until a skycar floated up from the floor, its doors opening to reveal the former defacto ruler of Omega, along with a batarian driver.

"Shepard." Curt. To the point. Nothing Shepard hadn't expected from Aria.

Bray signaled for Shepard to hop in with a jerk of his head. Shepard hopped in, having little choice in the matter.

"Aria." Shepard greeted with the same level tone. "How dramatic," she continued wryly, turning her gaze on Aria.

Aria kept her eyes focused in front of her, her face a stone mask of determination, yet Shepard sensed the restrained anger lurking beneath the surface. Fueling her.

"There are too many eyes and ears in Purgatory," she finally replied.

The car drove off, once the doors were securely shut. They sped within the tunnel, whirling past the different ward stations in the blink of an eye.

"So I assume this is about taking back Omega," Shepard began, her words barely audible among the hum of the engine, the whizzing of the air outside, and the beeping consoles.

"This is about your war, Shepard," Aria argued, glancing out the window. "Cerberus controlling the Terminus systems seriously bolsters their mobility. Since taking Omega, they've spread through the galaxy. Surely the Alliance has taken notice?"

"Cut to the chase." Shepard replied at Aria's dark tone. "What's your plan?"

"Kick them out," Aria said, reaching for her datapad close at hand.

"That simple, huh?" Shepard couldn't resist her own sarcastic bite.

Aria chose to ignore it, continuing as if Shepard hadn't spoken. "I've amassed a fleet of merc ships who are going to punch through enemy lines and invade. Once we're on Omega, it's a ground war.

"That's why I want you," Aria stressed. "I only accept the best."

As much of a compliment Shepard would ever get out of Aria.

Aria handed her the datapad, the image of a man with chocolate hair and matching goatee boring into Shepard with harsh, greyish eyes hidden beneath thick eyebrows.

"The leader of the Cerberus occupation is General Oleg Petrovsky. He's the one who…" Aria paused, eyes shifting as she stared broodingly at his image. "…ousted me." The words sounded like they were stuck in her throat and coughed up, as if Aria hadn't yet come to terms with the fact she had been bested.

"Don't know him," Shepard admitted, not feeling remorse over that fact. Yet another Cerberus lackey to add to her growing hit list.

"The Illusive Man's top military strategist and best kept secret. All you really need to know is that he's a merciless bastard." Aria's last words slurred and her voice deepened, the seething hatred pulsating beneath the surface.

"What's your intel on the occupation?" Shepard handed the datapad back. She couldn't take Petrovsky glowering at her from the datapad any longer.

"Petrovsky's army is massive and he's got Omega locked tight. The information stops there."

"So…you're winging it?" Shepard didn't expect that from someone who meticulously prepared for all possible outcome, who had her finger on the pulse of every little thing.

"Not at all." Aria turned back to Shepard, a hard look strengthening in her eyes. "There are secrets on Omega, secrets that will provide us a foothold.

"I can tell you this. Petrovsky's invasion was precise and ruthless. Stop at nothing to win."

"Sounds familiar…" Shepard murmured.

Aria leaned in closer at her words, right elbow resting on her thigh. "Shepard, I know my reputation…I know I'm hated; I ruled Omega with an iron fist. But the people were _free._ Their lives were theirs, _I_ preserved that. This man took all that away and he is going to pay." There it was again. The anger, desiring to burst forth, to lose herself in its power.

Shepard thought back to those days when she traveled to Omega. It had been a hellhole on a number of different levels, a place for the lawless of the galaxy to lose themselves in without fear of any law enforcement to track them down. She had seen people live in squalor, damp and dirty apartments. The mercs had constantly vied for dominance over the other and the civilians paid the price for their conflicts. But Aria had maintained a certain level of stability.

At the very least it was better off in her hands than Petrovsky's.

Aria reclined in her seat, her voice calmer. "When Omega's mine again, I'll give you everything. I've got ships, mercs, eezo, all yours for the war."

"What's the catch?" Shepard asked suspiciously at how Aria trailed off. There had to be something else Aria wanted from her.

"I've got…objections to some company you keep. So you'll have to leave the Normandy and its crew behind."

"I trust my squad to do what needs to be done," Shepard said tersely. Who could Aria have such a problem with that she couldn't bring anyone with her? Unless…

Aria looked anything but pacified. "That's assuming their goals are the same as yours. I don't want any _former _vigilantes to suddenly try and reclaim their former glory at the expense of my operation."

Of course Garrus would be the problem. She cursed herself for bringing him with her to Afterlife when on the hunt for Morinth. Of course Aria would put two and two together, see the turian by her side knowing that she had gone to recruit the infamous turian Archangel. More worrisome was how Aria knew Garrus was still alive and back serving on the Normandy.

"Even here, Shepard, nothing escapes my notice. Especially not your…growing attachment to a certain turian," Aria continued, presumably noticing the frozen look on her face.

Shepard had thought Garrus and her had been discreet. The last thing they had wanted to deal with was some bigot coming up to them and spouting xenophobic nonsense, but it wouldn't have surprised Shepard if Aria had access to C-Sec surveillance feeds and communications channels. They had been abuzz when Garrus and Shepard had been spotted by an officer on the top of the Presidium. Right after she had let him win their sniping contest. Right after she told him she loved him, and he confessed that not seeing her again would have been the worst part about the galaxy going to hell in a hand-basket.

"He's no longer a vigilante. He's put all that behind him. Besides, I thought you said you didn't hate him." No point in denying it now.

"I don't… but I'm not willing to take any chances. And I don't know how many of the mercs there still survive…and I can't guarantee his safety if they recognize him."

If anyone tried, they would meet the end of her omniblade within the span of a second.

"Is that a threat?" Shepard asked, her voice low, almost to the point of a growl.

"Consider it a fair warning." Aria leaned forward again. "Let's just say…I want you all to myself."

Shepard didn't want to know what that meant, but the ghost of a smile on Aria's lips unnerved her greatly.

They docked back at shuttle bay 47. Aria informed her Bray would provide the coordinates to their meeting place and she expected Shepard there within the next twelve hours, advising her to maintain discretion about their plans while on the Citadel, lest Cerberus had undetected feeds still active.

As Bray's snide comments about watching her in action rang in her ears, she wondered how in the hell she would get Garrus to agree to her going in alone, back to fight for the asteroid station that had almost been his final resting place.

* * *

"So, Commander, what did the Queen of Omega want this time? Did she want you to make nice with the mercs again?" Joker jumped on her as soon as she stepped back onto the ship.

"The curiosity's been eating away at you, hasn't it?"

"That is not physically possible, Shepard. An emotion such as curiosity cannot devour organs within the body." EDI had gotten better at interpreting organic behavior, but figurative language and expressions were still a struggle.

"It's another expression, EDI. Just look it up in that book I sent you. Keep reading it every day and you'll be fluent in all things figurative," Joker replied, his chair swiveling to face Shepard.

"You gave her an entire book?" Shepard asked, unable to hide the amusement in her voice.

"From the extranet," Joker clarified, shrugging his knobby shoulders. "Figured it was easier than having to explain every single time. And now you're changing the subject."

"Aria's going to take back Omega and she wants me to come with her. So I'll need you to head to the edge of the system soon and Cortez'll drop me off with her fleet," Shepard explained, pushing back annoying strands flitting across her face.

"Aye, aye, Commander…but you are planning to take people with you? You're not going in alone, possibly get stabbed in the back? Be unable to reach you for two days?" Joker asked cautiously, not needing to remind her of the events with the indoctrinated Dr. Kenson sedating her for two days on that asteroid in the Bahak system.

"Aria only wants me to come with her." She would keep it at that, no need to say why.

"It's not that I don't trust your judgment, Shepard, but how times have we been burned over the past three years? This spells "trap" in red neon letters," Joker admitted.

"Aria may be ruthless, but she sees me as an asset and she regards Cerberus as much of an enemy as we do," Shepard argued, crossing her arms. If Joker was putting up this much resistance, she couldn't imagine what Garrus would do.

"And you know the big guy will never let you do this, right? Unless you're planning on hiding in your cabin until you leave and not telling him?"

_Certainly would be easier. _

"This is how Aria wants to play it. If she wants me alone, that's how it's going to be. We need Omega out of Cerberus hands; it would be a major blow to their operations. And I'll tell him. I just have to figure out what to say. Just don't say anything to him if you see him," Shepard urged.

Joker suddenly shifted in his seat, rubbing his neck and his eyes darting wildly. "He won't hear it from me, Shepard, I swear."

Shepard then heard the door behind her close. She hung her head, pressing the bridge of her nose in a vice grip between her fingers as her eyelids closed.

"He's standing right behind me, isn't he?"

"What do you wanna hear?" When Shepard sent him a warning glare, Joker swiveled back in his chair, pretending his blinking panel was more interesting than this possible argument/lover's quarrel.

"How much of that did you hear?" Shepard asked, taking note of Garrus's clinched mandibles and tense body.

"I heard enough." At least he didn't sound angry. He actually sounded relatively calm.

"Garrus…" Shepard began, but the words escaped her.

"I understand helping Aria," Garrus replied. "Snatching Omega out of the Illusive Man's grasp is a major win for us." He pressed forward, entering her personal space, and catching her gaze in his steel-blue eyes. "But you are not going alone."

"It's out of my hands, Garrus. I know you feel like you need to be at my six all the time, but…"

Garrus cut her off abruptly. "And if it were me going in, you'd be saying the same thing I am," he argued, a hard edge creeping into his sub-flang.

So much for staying relatively calm.

"I can take care of myself, Garrus. You know that, better than anyone," Shepard shot back, letting her frustration overpower her. Why did he insist on making this harder than it already was? As much as she wanted to say "fuck it" and let Garrus come with her, she could not deny how much Aria's warning had shaken her, how fresh it still was in her mind. She couldn't risk anything happening. If he hated her for it, so be it. She could take that, rather than willingly putting him in harm's way.

"If you're worried about the whole Archangel thing…" Garrus tried again.

This time Shepard cut him off. "I wasn't until Aria herself mentioned it."

His eyes widened at the revelation, but he didn't say anything, allowing her to press forward. "Don't make me pull rank, Vakarian. You're staying on the Normandy. That's an order."

Shepard didn't wait to hear Garrus's response, slamming her hand on the door's green button and storming to the elevator, ignoring him calling her name. She pressed the button for the first deck, the doors quickly shutting behind her. Her forehead pressed against the icy metal of the elevator wall, a soothing balm to her warm skin.

She'd find a way to make it up to him.

* * *

A few hours later (after attempting to update mission reports and skim through notes without much success), she found herself in the mess, forcing herself to stomach a nutrient bar before going down to suit up. Liara, Tali, and Ash were there as well, partaking in their respective dinners.

They had kept conversation pretty light, everyone talking about what they did during their shore leave on the Citadel, but the topic of Aria could only be delayed for so long.

She informed them of Aria's plans, that they were going to retake Omega, that Aria wanted her to come alone.

"Is that why I saw Garrus storm off to the battery earlier?" Liara asked, arms folded neatly across the table.

"Yeah. Has he come out at all?" Shepard asked, lowering her voice as she glanced over at the red circle in the middle of the battery door.

"Not that I know of."

"Got to say, though, Skipper, can't really blame him. With a mission this big…" Ash stated, breaking her bread in two and reaching for the plastic knife to slab a healthy dose of butter on the pieces.

"I know, but Aria insisted. And I didn't want to cause any issues between us. With how she operates, I can already sense us butting heads," Shepard said between bites of her bar, which stuck to her left molar, her tongue having to pick at it.

"I think he's just worried about you, Jane. After that whole thing with the Leviathan, when you weren't waking up…" Tali paused, fiddling with her tube of nutrient paste. "I've never seen him so… emotional before."

Great. Way to make her feel guiltier, like she didn't already know, remember the pure relief in his eyes when she finally awoke, coughing her lungs out.

He had certainly become more protective of her since that day on top of the Presidium. Not overly so, where he insisted on doing all the combat for her, not letting her take any risks. At the end of the day, they were both soldiers. They knew what needed to be done.

But only a week after the Leviathan fiasco, going deep into the ocean to find a tentacled, mind-enslaving creature not seen for millennia, it was understandable why Garrus was so on edge.

And he still hadn't heard anything from his father or sister, which may have led him to think the worst and believe Shepard to be the only person he loved left in his life.

"Merc fleet in sight, Commander. ETA two minutes," Joker announced.

"Thanks, Joker," Shepard said, standing up and pushing in her chair.

"Are you going to try and talk to him before you leave?" Liara asked, pushing her plate aside, healthy remnants still left.

Shepard shook her head. "I want to, but…I don't want to risk getting into another argument." She almost wished one of them would force her to go to the battery, but none of them did.

"We'll make sure he doesn't do anything too crazy, then. Like steal the Kodiak and fly off after you," Tali replied, watching Shepard toss the wrapper in the garbage bin under the sink.

"Probably more likely for him to stow away." She then offered the trio a forced smile, telling them she would see them soon.

She rode the elevator to the fifth floor, motivating herself for another battle, another fight. She would be so glad when this was all over.

If she even survived to see it.

She couldn't think about that now. She had to stay focused, remember why she was fighting, what she was fighting for…

She was kicking herself now for being too harsh with him, now that her frustration had subsided, for not trying to talk to him again, leaving with that tension between them. Their days were possibly numbered. They shouldn't waste even a second of them because of their stubbornness.

Cortez was already lowering the Kodiak, the Normandy was on approach. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed her Widow and Predator, along with extra sticky grenades, from her locker, laying them on the work bench. She thought about changing out the mods since she obtained a more accurate scope for her pistol, but she didn't have time.

She ducked behind the crates, thankful the ensigns had given her privacy to change into her under-suit and clap her armor pieces on one by one. Her pure onyx armor with her red and white stripe on the right arm and N7 insignia printed over her right breast. Patches of dark blue were peppered on the armor, as a tribute to a certain turian who for as long as she had known him always had the color blue in his armor.

Holstering her guns onto her back, she bid James goodbye, who told her not to have too much fun out there, shooting her a roguish grin.

She stepped inside the Kodiak, plopping down on the closest seat, with the shuttle door snapping shut behind her.

Her eyes snapped shut of their own accord as Cortez pulled out of the Normandy a moment later, the vibrations from the outer atmosphere tickling her feet.

A building crick in her neck finally seemed intent on plaguing her. She rolled her head, flexing her fingers against her skin, trying to work it out before landing.

Then she heard footsteps and a shadow move over her. A shadow that stuck a three-taloned hand out to press against the tense muscles.

"Looks like you're carrying some tension. After this, I'll be sure to help you properly get rid of it."

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of her turian mate.

"God damn it, Garrus." She really should have checked the shuttle before takeoff. She had even said she wouldn't put it past him to do something like this.

Before she could say anything more, her body turned limp as his skilled digits continued their ministrations. "I won't put you in the brig if you make this spasm go away."

Garrus gave a wry laugh. "Lucky me." He pressed down hard enough and in the right places until she could fully rotate her neck.

"Thank you, Garrus."

He murmured an acknowledgement and lifted his hand away, but still stood over her.

She rose from her seat, fixing him with a stern gaze. "I thought I gave you an order."

"Bad turian, remember?" he replied, unfazed.

"Did you know about this, Cortez?" Shepard called to her pilot, glaring at his back.

"Everyone did, ma'am," Cortez offered, his voice mixed with amusement and nervousness, as if unsure how Shepard would react. "Even Joker."

That explained why the others didn't try harder to go with her or force her to talk to Garrus.

Well, she was the one to say crew had the right to disobey orders. Might be coming back to bite her now.

Shepard threw her hands in the air, unable to see any other options other than tying him to the seat, but Cortez would probably free him even if they had proper restraints. "Alright, Garrus, you win. I don't know what we'll say to Aria, but we'll figure something out."

"This isn't about winning any battle of wills between us, Jane." His voice became serious, sub-flang prominent, raw emotion shining in his eyes. "You know that, right? I…I just don't…"

"I know. And I shouldn't have been so harsh before." He didn't need to finish for her to know what he wanted to say, when it was clear just by looking into his eyes, by his efforts to hide himself away in the Kodiak so he could come with her.

Her own voice then wavered ever so slightly. "But you'd better watch your ass, Vakarian."

_From whatever comes our way on that hellhole station._

"That's an order you _must _follow."

Garrus entangled his talons into her loose auburn curls, bringing her head forward to rest against his forehead, making her that solemn promise, with four little words:

"That I can do."

* * *

A/N: Let me know what you think! Stay tuned for another chapter soon and the action will get under way.


	2. -2-

A/N: A big thank you to those who have reviewed, favorited and are following this story! You guys are awesome and I hope I can continue to keep everyone interested and even fill the void the Omega DLC seemingly left for a lot of us out there!

* * *

-2-

Once Cortez had successfully landed in the shuttle bay of Aria's ship, Shepard bid Cortez farewell with a friendly pat on the shoulder, who warned her and Garrus to watch themselves out there. Not that she needed to be reminded of that.

Once again Bray was there in the shuttle bay to play escort for Aria. Shepard couldn't help wondering what he had done to get these crap assignments.

"Thought Aria made it clear you come alone," Bray said as way of greeting, focused on the turian by her side.

_That was the plan until a few moments ago._

"If Aria doesn't like it, she can kick us off," Shepard said, inherent authority in her voice. As worried as she was about the possible repercussions Garrus's return to Omega could create, it did make her feel more at ease about this whole mission, knowing she had someone she completely trusted at her side.

Bray shrugged. "Your ass on the line, not mine."

Bray then directed them to the main control center, up a deck and towards the bow of the ship. As they neared their destination, Shepard paused in her step when a violent shiver ran through the course of her body before it quickly passed, allowing her to continue walking. Even a week after the Leviathan had entered her mind, she still suffered from this side-effect. She remembered how cold she had been afterwards, a lingering frost within her body, no matter how many blankets had been wrapped around her. She had forced Garrus to lie in bed with her while she was confined to twelve-hour bed rest, keeping her skin pressed against his warm scales and hide to combat the chill. She couldn't even imagine what those miners at T-GES Mineral Works were going through, after ten years under the Leviathan's control.

When they finally entered the room, they found Aria standing in front of a holographic interface, cajoling her lieutenant in her abrasive manner.

"We're not here to win a space battle, Jarral. We just have to punch through their line."

"So you've commandeered a Cerberus cruiser?" Shepard asked as she approached Aria. It had almost thrown Garrus, Cortez and her for a loop when they saw this Cerberus cruiser opening its shuttle bay doors in a sea of unmarked merc vessels, until they had established radio contact and confirmed Aria had commandeered the ship.

"The guest of honor has arrived. We can finally start," Aria sneered, still focused on the holographic image of Omega in front of her. When she finally rose, her sneer shaped into a frown, irritation creeping into her eyes.

"I told you to come alone. Especially not with _him_."

"I'm very persuasive and obstinate," Garrus gave as explanation, posture rigid, arms folded across his chest. As if daring Aria to try to make him leave Shepard's side.

"Obviously."

"My shuttle pilot is already gone and we're on course to the relay. Unless you plan to space him, he's coming with us," Shepard said, her tone leaving no room for debate on the issue.

Aria advanced upon Garrus, her voice a deadly whisper. "Just as long as you remember your place. This isn't your playground anymore. This isn't the time for you to play hero or get any idealistic fantasies in your head."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Garrus replied, refusing to avert his gaze from her.

"See that you don't…otherwise the consequences may not be to your liking."

Shepard didn't know where the fair warning ended and the personal threat began, but she wasn't about to stand for it either way.

"Threatening my squadmate is not the best start to our partnership, Aria. Lay off him."

"You ensured its instability by allowing him to come along in the first place," Aria stated, a deep scowl planted on her face, crossing her arms and tapping her pointer fingers against the limbs they rested on.

"For the sake of us working together, I'm going to ignore that. So, you're planning to infiltrate the enemy fleet?" Shepard asked.

"Yes," Aria replied, uncrossing her arms, though Shepard could still sense the tension between them. "We position ourselves to strike a crippling blow and my forces join the fun."

"A lot could go wrong," Shepard pointed out the obvious.

"The assault's been planned for weeks, Shepard. For now, just sit back, let me steer," Aria stated, her hips visibly swaying as she walked over to Bray, ordering him to head through the relay.

"That actually went better than I thought. Half expected her to try tossing me out the airlock," Garrus admitted, scratching at his forehead plates.

"Javik would have been so disappointed in missing out on someone getting spaced," Shepard replied, continuing to joke away the tension, a common occurrence for them. Though it could not be argued Javik had an unhealthy fixation with airlocks. First he had advised her to toss Legion out, then EDI, and she was pretty sure she had heard him mutter something about James deserving to be tossed.

"I think I'm one of the few he respects, so he wouldn't get the full enjoyment."

Shepard shook her head, listening as Aria ordered Bray to travel through the relay and to head for the command ship.

Shepard knew Aria was paranoid. Understandable given her experiences. Was she worried about the merc groups not uniting under her if they somehow figured out who Garrus was, or was there something else?

"Garrus," she murmured, voice subdued. "When you were on Omega, you didn't plan to try to…" She jerked her head in Aria's direction.

His shifting gaze and silence was all she needed.

At that moment, Aria beckoned her over, citing their approach on the Cerberus command ship. Shooting him a look that promised a talk in the future when alone, she strode over to Aria, just as a Cerberus commando flagged them, asking for verification.

At Aria's nod, Bray played back a recording of the former captain of the cruiser, the words escaping him in a strained monotone.

"How did you get the captain to say that?" Shepard asked, already knowing the answer.

Aria faced forward, her fevered excitement hovering just at the surface at the sight of her beloved station. "The hard way."

They took it slow on approach, maintaining the façade for as long as possible before firing at the Cerberus ship, which exploded in a blaze of orange as they flew by.

"Signal the fleet through the relay and head for the station. Nothing gets in our way now." The excitement in Aria's voice was now palpable. Shepard wished she could be just as enthused.

"We're being hailed by the General," Bray announced at the sight of the flashing icon on his screen.

"This should be interesting," Aria said, twirling around to the holographic interface. "Put him through."

The holo-image of Omega morphed into that of the Cerberus General, Oleg Petrovsky.

"Aria. I knew this had to be you." His voice held a rough edge, a contrast to his smooth words. "You'll never make it. Call it off now."

"You're barking up the wrong tree, General," Aria said, ignoring his warning. "But maybe you can convince my partner."

Petrovsky turned his gaze on Shepard, who had been standing behind Aria. His face remained emotionless even at her reveal. "Commander Shepard. I've heard great things about you."

Shepard frowned. "I doubt the Illusive Man thinks of me that highly." Not after all the trouble she had caused, interfering with numerous operations.

"I do my own research, Commander." His eyes shifted to Garrus, who appeared at her side. "Including about those on your crew."

He then addressed Garrus directly. "Surprising you would help retake Omega, Officer Vakarian. To be used again as a conduit for the lawless of the galaxy. After all your effort to end all that…"

"I put it behind me," Garrus replied darkly, a low growl reverberating in his sub-flang, talons clinching into fists at his side.

"Did you? Perhaps the real reason you came was not on Shepard's behalf, but to reclaim your place as the protector of Omega. Aria would be wise to watch herself."

A few of the crew were riveted on the exchange between Petrovsky and them. One human in particular cast suspicious eyes at Garrus. Shepard didn't know how many of them were once on Omega, if any of them had been on jobs Garrus and his squad disrupted, but she had to end this before Petrovsky blew the lid and possibly caused a major incident. Or the more likely scenario, Aria gave into her paranoia and actually tossed Garrus out an airlock.

"I've heard a fair bit about you from my partner," Shepard said, interrupting the conversation.

"She's not used to being defeated," Petrovsky said, taking the bait. "It clouds her judgment. A pity you left Cerberus. We all sabotage ourselves in nefarious ways. Perhaps deep down you fear success," he said, voice ringing in a condescending note.

"Experimenting on your own and others with Reaper tech are tools to success?" Shepard scoffed, not bothering to hide her disbelief. How can anyone possibly think playing around with Reaper tech for an extended period of time was a good idea? After all the evidence to the contrary with indoctrination?

"We all must do what is necessary, Commander, but that is a topic for another time," Petrovsky said, dismissing her words with a wave of his hand. "I see you've gone to the trouble to augment that ship with Silaris armoring. An exorbitant waste. I've made improvements to Omega's outer defenses. My cannons will cut through you at will."

"He sounds pretty confident," Shepard said to Aria, noting how nonchalant he seemed.

"Yeah…he does," Aria remarked, mask still in place, just as unfazed as Petrovsky.

"So again, I say turn back," Petrovsky warned for a final time.

No sign of hesitation on her face, Aria replied, "Let's see what you got, Oleg."

She ordered Bray to end the transmission, the sneer on Petrovsky's face the last glimpse of him before replaced by the holo-image of Omega.

"That went well…" Aria shifted, eyes cast down on the console. One brief flicker of uncertainty, but when her ice persona barked orders to brace for impact as they prepared to ram the station, no trace was left.

Shepard raised objection, but barely got anything out before Aria interjected, ready with her defense.

"Omega's kinetic barrier will stop my ships from landing. I equipped this ship with disruptors to take it out on impact. Don't worry," she assured at the raised eyebrow and frown on Shepard's face. "We'll probably survive the crash."

"That's reassuring," Garrus said into Shepard's ear, his breath tickling the shell.

Crew members flurried past them to get to their respective station. The human who had watched their conversation with Petrovsky still had his eyes on Garrus until a fierce glare from Shepard caused him to slink in his seat and finally look away. Shepard's worry was trapped inside of her, nowhere visible on her face. Worry that this coward was only the beginning and someone with actual skill and balls would recognize Garrus, try and get revenge…

The ship began lurching to and from, taking fire from the cannons locked onto their vessel. The General certainly hadn't been bluffing about the upgrades.

"Shields down! All systems failing!" Bray bellowed, gliding his hands frantically across the various consoles.

"We can make it!" Aria's hands clinched the edge of the holographic interface.

"Aria, don't be stupid," Shepard argued, gripping the back of Bray's head rest, trying not to think about how eerily familiar this all seemed. "Sound the evac."

"_Distress beacon is ready for launch…"_

Aria went rigid, an internal debate raging within her. She punched the console in frustration. "Damn it! Program escape pods for the station."

The fire had spread quickly throughout the ship, the explosions rippling like a domino effect across the vessel. Shepard followed Aria and Bray through the exploding, fire-ridden hallway, Garrus close behind.

She tried to focus on running to the escape pod, that it would be different this time, but she couldn't stop the images flashing through her mind…

_Dashing to the control panel at the end of the Mess to activate the distress beacon…Ash coming up to her and telling her Joker isn't leaving, that Ash isn't either…convincing Ash to get the others to the escape pods…running through the burning Mess, shielding her body in a futile effort to keep the dancing flames away from her…_

A nearby explosion threw her off her feet, smacking her face first into the wall…

_She's about to hop onto the escape pod with Joker, when another beam cuts through the already damaged ship, the resulting explosion wrenching her away from Joker, to the launch pad. There's no way she can reach the pod in time. She has to make sure Joker survives. Before she loses her grip on the wall, she punches the button. As Joker's pod projects itself away from the Normandy, now only broken remnants remaining of a ship that had become her home, its commander is propelled into the air by another explosion, leaving her adrift in space at the mercy of a broken air seal…_

Garrus rushed over to her and pulled her up, dragging her to the escape pod Aria had made it to until she could get her bearings. Snapping out of her daze, Shepard jumped into the pod and quickly pulled the safety harness over herself. Garrus climbed in beside her. She shot him a thankful glance. He brushed the backs of his talons against her dangling hand in reply.

"Guess that asshole really did upgrade Omega's outer defenses," Aria said, bitterness strong in her tone.

"So it would seem," Shepard replied as the pod's doors firmly shut behind the human who catapulted in.

It took the shuttle a few minutes to land. During the entire trip, they rattled around in their harnesses, bouncing in their seats. A booming noise like they just punched through solid concrete signaled their arrival onto the station. They landed at an angle, but could still reach the door without issue.

They all carefully lifted their safety harnesses off, mindful of the stampede outside the pod. Shepard kept her hand on the latch of the door until she didn't hear anymore footsteps. She sprung it open and hopped out of the pod, striking the first assault trooper in her path in the helmet.

Aria and Garrus provided cover, the other human and asari in the shuttle caught in a firestorm and crumbled to the ground.

Aria and Shepard ducked behind a nearby create. Garrus took cover further to the left, pulling out his Viper.

"Hope the other escape pods made it," Aria stated, firing at a trooper before hiding behind the safety of the cargo crate.

"Who's our target?" Shepard asked.

"Need to hit the Defense Systems station, shut down Omega's outer defenses so my ships can land. If we don't, they'll be blown to bits like we were."

They were interrupted by the vorcha who had sprung from the shuttle, his cries a mix of hisses and snarls, only to be riddled with bullets before he got far.

"This is what I brought you for: ground assault. In combat, what you say goes."

Shepard couldn't believe what she was hearing. Aria was once a formidable commando (and if suspicions were correct she even bested Wrex centuries ago) and _de facto _ruler of a station populated with some of the worst the galaxy had to offer. Surely she could handle all these Cerberus lackeys?

"Aria relinquishing command? I'll believe it when I see it."

"I can a team player when I want to be, Commander," Aria assured. "I know where we need to go and you can get us there."

To their left, a trooper had advanced past their cover, ready to shoot Shepard and Aria. Only to be felled by softly glowing green sniper shots.

"I see he's still just as good as they claimed," Aria remarked, pensively focused on Garrus, whose focused was diverted to a nearby Centurion.

"Come on, let's go," Shepard said, wanting to break Aria out of any developing line of thought.

Aria nodded, choosing to stay behind their cargo crate while Shepard went to pick off targets with Garrus.

"I could have handled him, you know," she said as she approached him. One blast of incinerate from her omnitool and well-placed pistol shots, and she would have been good to go.

"It was the perfect shot, couldn't resist. Plus never hurts to get some practice shots in before our shooting contests, especially after last time."

"Didn't think you were still bitter about losing our last round," Shepard said as she pulled her Widow off her back.

"Have to reclaim my title as King of the Bottle Shooters..." he teased, but the depth of tenderness and concern swirling in his eyes when he finally looked at her, solely for her, revealed the hidden layer behind the words, behind the banter.

_I'm compelled to look out for you, I __**have**__ to watch over you, even if it seems overbearing,_ his eyes seemed to tell her.

_I understand, but know I __**will **__do the same for you,_ she hoped her eyes conveyed to him.

A series of raining bullets prevented her from vocally replying. Activating her tactical cloak, she lined up three Cerberus troopers in a line like ducks in her scope, taking them down one by one with clean head shots. She took cover again once the cloak deactivated.

She thought about it, then. Asking him about his plans regarding Aria back when he was Archangel, but this wasn't the time or place, not with Aria still close by.

"You know, I wouldn't be opposed to sharing the title," she said instead, unfastening a sticky grenade from her belt and tossing it in between the approaching Guardian and trooper. She blocked out Aria's battle cry of "I'm back, fuckers," and the flash of biotic energy over Cerberus commandos which followed the cry.

Their targets were dwindling, no more reinforcements had come. There were only three more left, and then they could move forward.

"King and Queen of the Bottle Shooters, huh? In case the bottles revolt?" He sent her a contented grin that prompted her to give one right back, as they both took aim of their respective targets. "I like the sound of that."

They both fired at the same time, their targets dropping to the floor in unison, leaving Aria to finish off the last one.

Aria called for them to head to the back of the hangar, where the controls to the blast doors were located. As Garrus and Shepard lowered their weapons and popped out from cover, Shepard inched closer to Garrus, halting his movements. Keeping her sapphire blue eyes locked onto his, she whispered, "Me too," before dashing to catch up with Aria.

* * *

A/N: Didn't mean to end it on this touching of a note again, but there it is. Please let me know what you think of this latest installment and I'll try to update ASAP!


	3. -3-

A/N: Thanks to those who have reviewed, favorited or are following this story. Really means a lot! :).

* * *

-3-

With three of them, it didn't take long to push to the defense systems.

"Jarral, defenses are down. Signal the ships to converge on the rendezvous point," Aria said, issuing instructions while watching the Cerberus cannons deactivate.

"Approach projections plotted. We're already cuing up," Jarral replied through the static-filled comm link.

"Bray, come in, status!"

"Rendezvous sight secured." Maybe for once things would go as planned. "Hangar doors enabled. We'll have them open soon."

"Need them open now!" Aria stressed. "My birds are coming in, prep for reception."

"What exactly is this rendezvous point?" Shepard asked, pulling away from the console.

"That's where we're headed. It's a bunker I established on D deck for my more…sensitive operations. It's utterly impenetrable with its own secret hangar and dock. Independent power source, life support, munitions. You'll see." Aria assured, her eyes trained on Garrus, who had been surveying the area in case more troopers appeared out of thin air.

"Mine has never been compromised. I hear your bunker was elaborate, but not enough in the end," Aria remarked when his eyes finally met hers.

Insinuating he failed to properly protect his team, not the best thing to do.

Shepard studied Garrus's face for any sign of a violent reaction, but he maintained his cool. At least externally. "Only so much you can afford on a vigilante's salary."

A faint sound above her distracted her from Aria's response. A zooming noise, one a camera makes when trying to focus in.

_So much for things going as planned._

"There's a good chance the General knows where we're going," Shepard interrupted Aria's reply, pointing to the camera attached to a beam near the ceiling.

Aria followed Shepard's motion, narrowing eyes landing on the camera, the lens clearly centered on Aria. She answered its growing attention by firing a bullet right into the middle of the lens.

"Then no time for sightseeing. Take the far exit. I've locked down the way we came." She then contacted Bray. "Bray, heads up. You might get visitors."

"Terrific," Bray replied, not bothering to conceal his sarcasm.

The door at the end of the hall revealed yet another elevator. A Cerberus operative, who sounded like blocked nasal passages dampened any possible authority in his voice, attempted to deliver an alert to Cerberus across the compromised station.

"We're causing a stir. Good." Surprisingly nonchalant for Aria.

When they stepped out the elevator, they were greeted with more gunfire, but fortunately there were only a few. Once they were dealt with, the garage door at the end of the hall opened to reveal a sight that took Aria's breath away.

"The Omega skyline. Now I feel like I'm back."

Shepard looked up at the skyline, trying to see what Aria did. All she could see was how sterile it all seemed, the smog which muted the synthetic light squeezing through the buildings, grunge caked on their exteriors. But Omega was never going to win any awards for being aesthetically pleasing. It was the polar opposite of Citadel, its atmosphere perfectly symbolic of the type of people this station attracted.

Aria's brow furrowed at the barrier ahead of them. "Strange. What are those things in the distance?"

"Looks like some kind of force field," Garrus replied, analyzing it through the scope of his Viper.

A nearby holographic terminal caught Shepard's eye, small sparks spewing from its console. She pressed the activation button on the terminal to replay its message.

"Non-humans currently without supervision are required to report to the nearest civilian containment area," the holo-image of a woman, presumably one of a Cerberus personnel, relied.

She made it sound so pleasant, so forgiving if a non-human tried to escape, that the only thing that would happen is they would be sent back to their prisons unharmed. Shepard doubted any of the soldiers would have been so lenient if they caught them, not with becoming the monsters the Illusive Man had molded them into. There was no room for any humanity, any compassion.

"Sounds like the non-humans were essentially prisoners, taken from their homes."

"Unsurprising given Cerberus's reputation, but doubt the humans on this station are any better off. We need to stop this," Garrus said, a low growl entering his voice.

"Something we can agree on," Aria replied.

It was a start.

A little further down, they encountered more of Aria's men, all vorcha, only to watch them cut down by Guardians and an Engineer's turret.

"Feels good to let loose!" Aria cried, her biotics wrenching a Guardian's shield from his grasp and slamming it right into his head.

When they entered the next elevator, Shepard noticed the symbol painted on the wall above the controls. A white circle encompassing crimson lines, three twisting horizontally, one vertical right down the middle of two horizontal, ending at the edge of the white circle. Though it was most likely done with red paint, the lines almost looked like blood when caught in the light.

"I know that symbol," Garrus said as he entered the elevator.

"Looks like a gang tag," Shepard remarked, her fingers tracing down the vertical line of the emblem.

"The Talons. They used to deface my property too," Aria added, moving next to Shepard to activate the elevator controls.

"Did you have many run-ins with them, Garrus?"

"A few, but they were small-time in comparison to the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and Blood Pack. A turian-centric group," Garrus said, his words fighting for dominance over those of the Cerberus announcer sending out another station-wide alert.

"Your actions and the plague combined decimated the other merc groups' numbers. They left a power vacuum which the Talons wasted no time in filling. Proving that no matter how many mercs you kill or how many gangs you weaken, someone or something will always take its place."

"So, in the end, fighting against all injustice is pointless?" Garrus argued.

Aria shot him an irritated look, the callousness carved into the hard lines of her face. "If that's how you want to interpret it."

Shepard shot her own cautionary glance to Garrus, to not rise to Aria's bait, that she was looking for an excuse to brand him a threat. He gave her a curt nod, though Shepard could still sense his displeasure just by his stiff body and hardened eyes.

The elevator arrived a few seconds later with a small jolt.

"The Talons symbol again," Shepard said at the sight that greeted them stepping out of the elevator.

"Could be evidence of a resistance," Aria murmured.

The barrier was in sight, along with a vorcha examining it. Only to be set upon by a mech hopping down behind him. The vorcha tried firing back, but the omniblade that jettisoned from the mech's armor overpowered him. As he stumbled to his feet, the mech struck him again, this time into the force field, the vorcha's screeches lasting only a few seconds as his body turned to ash.

The mech, its shields the same searing orange as the force fields, turned its pulsating red eyes on the trio. More of its kind were already on approach, passing through the force field without going up in flames.

"Stand still, you pieces of shit!" Aria snapped, carnage blast spiraling from her shotgun.

"At least she makes battles more lively," Garrus said dryly, firing more armor piercing rounds from his Mattock.

"The new variant of mechs aren't enough?" Shepard asked, activating sabotage on an unshielded mech, taking great pleasure in watching it fire on its former allies.

"At least they're keeping us on our toes."

_One of these days Cerberus is going to have a full-blown Reaper with them._

As soon as she thought those words, she realized with a start how true that could have been, if she had agreed to the timed radiation pulse instead of insisting they blow up the base. Not only for fear of the Illusive Man's ambitions, not only to honor the Collector's victims, but a deep-seated belief they could win without the technology, without sacrificing the soul of their species.

What they were dealing with now was a headache; if the Illusive Man had had access to a Reaper prototype, they would have been in such a pile of shit they may not have been able to unearth themselves from.

Once reinforcements stopped pouring through and Garrus finished off the last one with an explosive overload blast, Aria rushed over to check out the force field.

"Something tells me these force fields are going to be a problem," Aria said as Shepard and Garrus approached.

"Are we blocked?" Shepard didn't see any way around this unless they all magically morphed into klixen.

"Not this time. This way."

Aria led them through a door to their left, seemingly revealing a room with no other means of entry.

"What are you doing?" Shepard asked, stepping up to Aria, who was typing away on her omnitool.

"Letting you in on a secret," Aria replied, the panel in front of her lifting off the ground, exposing a lone ladder.

Shepard slid down first, followed by Garrus and Aria. They only got a few steps further when Shepard heard rustling in the shadowed corner. Something was there, studying their movements.

All three of them pointed their guns at the source of the sound, Shepard demanding the figure reveal itself.

The figure still insisted on clinging to the shadows, aided by her all black clothed figure and the hood veiling her face.

"Spirits, look who's back. Aria T'Loak."

The figure was a woman, that much could be discerned from voice alone, but the sub-harmonics clearly indicated she was not human. As the woman slinked closer into the light, Shepard took in the narrow mandibles which sloped down the sides of her face less than Garrus's did, the red clan markings across the center of her face, fully covering her flat nasal openings. Unlike the males of her species, the plating on her face allowed for more hide surrounding her metallic yellow pupils.

"Nyreen." Aria looked taken aback for a brief second before regaining her composure. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Playing cat and mouse, mostly. Just trying to stay alive," Nyreen replied. Weariness stalked her steps as she paced back and forth. "If it wasn't for these tunnels…"

"_My_ tunnels…" Aria articulated. "I'm sure glad I showed them to you." Though Aria's voice stayed monotone, Shepard could sense the effort to keep it emotionless.

"If you hadn't, I'd be dead or locked up by now," Nyreen said, shaking her head.

"Aria doesn't trust easily," Shepard commented, thinking how that was the understatement of the century. Or centuries, as the case may be. "I guess you're a good friend."

"I don't know." Nyreen paused in her pacing, giving Aria a pointed look. "Are we, Aria?"

"Shepard, this is Nyreen Kandros, ex-turian military. We…go way back," Aria introduced, allowing a hint of pleasure in her tone.

"This is…" Shepard began to introduce Garrus to Nyreen, noticing how Aria acted like Garrus wasn't even there.

Nyreen's eyes flashed in recognition. "Garrus Vakarian. Why am I not surprised to find you here?"

_Wait…what?_

"You two know each other?"

"We served together on the _Intrepid_ many years ago. Your first military posting, wasn't it?" Nyreen asked, eyes still locked onto Garrus. Was that disdain in her sub-harmonics Shepard detected?

"Second, actually. Good to know you at least remember me after thirteen years. Makes me feel all warm inside," Garrus replied, sarcasm palpable.

"You dry wit hasn't changed much, it seems," Nyreen remarked, crossing her arms.

One thing was for sure. Garrus was definitely in for a serious question and answer session when Shepard and he were alone.

"If you two are done with the touching reunion," Aria interjected, impatience shining in her eyes. "I've got a lot of questions myself, Nyreen, but they'll have to wait. We need to get to the bunker before my fleet is overwhelmed."

"Agreed." Shepard turned to Nyreen. "Ready to put that gun to good use?"

"You have no idea how ready," Nyreen admitted, the zeal etched on her face.

Shepard led the charge forward, salvaging any scrap metal she stumbled upon in the vicinity.

Nyreen didn't allow the eerie silence that filled the hallway to linger for very long, cautiously asking Aria why she came back.

"To reclaim what's mine," Aria replied, as if it was that simple.

"Left something behind, I take it?" Nyreen asked, as if feeling her out.

"Not something. Everything."

"And you, Vakarian? Why are you here?" Nyreen directed her line of questioning to Garrus.

"I am one of Commander Shepard's squad. She asked me to accompany her."

Shepard heard Aria scoff at his false words.

"I see. So you've officially left C-Sec, then? After being so eager to leave the military?"

"I'm not some teenage grunt fresh off boot camp for you to lecture anymore, Kandros." Shepard was surprised at how forceful Garrus sounded. "Besides, you don't look like you're part of the military anymore. Couldn't stand being a Cabal?"

"It wasn't that simple," Nyreen said sharply, regret dense in her sub-flang. "I wanted to continue serving, but... I felt I wasn't of use."

Shepard saw a flash of empathy cross Garrus's faceplate, mandibles fluttering slightly, a sign of surprise.

"I can understand that." The defensiveness was gone.

An awkward silence fell between them then, all the while with Shepard trying to figure out what had happened to produce this type of underlying tension between them.

Then it suddenly crossed her mind, the realization hitting her like a speeding skycar. Could this possible be the turian from his reach and flexibility story? The story that had been the catalyst for their own relationship?

"Aria, you were right. We're under attack!" Bran sent out through the comm, bringing Shepard out of her thoughts.

"What's the fleet's status?" Aria asked, urgency clear in her voice, while Shepard unlocked the door with her omnitool.

"Still landing, inside the bunker."

"Keep the enemy out at all costs! Lock it down!"

They made their way down a ramp way, thankfully no signs of Cerberus infiltration or knowledge of the tunnels. The ramp way led to the bottom of yet another ladder, the sounds of gunfire and frenzied shouts from above much more prominent.

"Bray! Why aren't the cannons online?" Aria demanded as she popped up from the ladder, having brought up the rear.

"Something's jamming them, trying to identify."

They all separated to flank Cerberus, trying to provide cover for the ground team. Shepard found firing incinerate blasts at the rampant mechs worked quite well, in some cases exploding in a sea of metal. She could have easily sabotaged them again once their shields were down, but with the firepower Cerberus had, they wouldn't have gotten more than a few shots in.

With Nyreen and Aria providing support closer to the inactive cannons, Shepard found herself exchanging sniper shots next to Garrus again, after almost rolling into him to escape a trooper's electric baton.

"Still that irresistible to you?" Garrus questioned with mandibles flaring as he fired an overload at a nearby rampant.

"Shut it, Vakarian," Shepard shot back as she directed an incinerate at the trooper, though her affectionate tone betrayed her.

She unhooked the Widow again, spotting a Guardian on approach. Drowning out the sounds of gunfire and roars around her, she zeroed in on the narrow slit in the Guardian's shield. Her shot flew right between the eyes of his helmet. He crumpled to the ground with an audible thunk. She wasted no time in prepping herself to fire at a Centurion.

"It's not her."

Shepard jerked at the sudden sound of Garrus's voice, her shot missing slightly and cutting through the open air like a knife.

"What?" Shepard asked, repositioning her sight and firing a clean shot this time at her target. How did he know that thought came to her mind?

"Nyreen Kandros. She's not the one I got in that sparring match with," Garrus continued, his concussive shot knocking a trooper to the floor.

Shepard honestly didn't know what to think or say to that. There was no reason for her to feel relieved over the news. Even if it had been the same turian, it had been a one night blowing off steam. Garrus had made it very clear that his relationship with Shepard was more than that. Shepard was the only woman he would ever love, had ever loved, beyond family. Nyreen being the flexible turian just would have provided for a clear explanation rather than anything else.

"It wouldn't have mattered even if it was," Shepard finally replied, reassurance in her voice though Garrus showed no sign of nervousness. "So how do you know her? She said you served on the same ship together."

"It was when I was seventeen and she was about twenty-eight, I think. It was my second military assignment on a ship. She had been posted there for about two years, two citizenship tiers above me. Or was it three?"

He paused to fire a few rounds at a trooper. "Combine that with the fact she came from a family with a long-standing tradition for military service, she tended to think it her place to lecture us younger recruits about the importance of morality. Being by the book, playing by the rules. Not something a seventeen year old wants to hear from anyone, especially after hearing so much from my father. I told her as much, on several occasions."

"Same seemed to go for a twenty-seven year old C-Sec officer who thought helping a certain human would be a chance to get things done his way." Shepard recalled how straight laced she had been with Garrus back in the day. She had certainly done her own share of lecturing on that very subject.

"At first, maybe, but you got me to listen, earned my respect. You were unlike anyone I'd ever met. You still are."

Shepard had to stop herself from grinning like an idiot at the sheer warmth reverberating in his voice. When did she become such a romantic?

"Don't think you can distract me by being a sweet-talker."

Garrus's browplate lifted. "Who says I was doing it to distract you?"

Shepard shook her head, her lips pulling at the edges despite her best efforts, but he wasn't off the hook yet. She couldn't shake the feeling there was something else with Nyreen he wasn't telling her. Not to mention the more pertinent question still unexplored.

"Aria, there's a Cerberus engineer in here, hacking the cannons, keeping them offline."

"Shepard, you need to find that hacker! We'll keep them off you."

So much for Shepard being the one giving the orders.

Shepard bit back the frustrated growl threatening to rise from her throat. With Aria nowhere in sight, she could have asked him, switched to a private channel on their omnitool so Aria couldn't listen in. Guess they'd have to still find a way to be alone once inside Aria's bunker.

"I'm on it, Aria," Shepard replied through the comm, refocusing on the task at hand.

She took a quick sweep of her surroundings, but didn't spot him. She'd have to do a survey on foot.

Telling Garrus to keep providing Aria and Nyreen cover, she activated her cloak, on the hunt for the illusive Engineer. She discovered him at the other side of the room, attempting to hide behind a wall column, omnitool lit up as he continued his hacking. That quickly ended when Shepard materialized in front of him, slicing him with her blade.

"Cannons initializing… Aria, the cannons have to aug-ed manually," Bray informed.

Just as an Atlas plopped down ahead of them. When was it ever going to be easy?

"I'll handle it, just focus on the Atlas," Shepard commanded.

They took the Atlas down in relatively little time, with Nyreen and Garrus sounding off overloads at the same time to sap away the shields. An incinerate blast from Shepard and a biotic flare from Aria, with Nyreen and Garrus firing away at the armoring, resulted in its explosion, metal debris flying all across the battlefield.

Shepard dashed to the controls, her shield deflecting bullets, while the rest of her squad and the members of the ground team crossed over the extending bridge.

Aria flung a biotic flare at a Guardian that tried to chase after her. Shepard, Garrus and Nyreen fired at incoming troops while the cannons continued warming up.

The whish of a bullet caught her ears a second too late, lightly grazing Shepard across the cheek as she ducked. She let out a curse as she felt the small thin trail of blood tumble down her cheek and the burning sensation around the struck area.

More reinforcements dropped in, readying for another push, only to stumble right into the line of cannon fire. Shepard blocked out the startled cries as the cannons cut right through their shielding, their armor, blood splattering all across their bodies. She saw one try to levitate away with his rocket-propelled boots, but the cannon shots hit one of the boots, causing him to fall several feet off the ground.

When it was over, Shepard scanned the area for any further signs of movement among the mangled bodies lying on the floor. One lifted his arm and clinched his fist while in the air, but a second later it tumbled to the floor to rest beside his battered body.

"Nice guns," Nyreen complimented, breathing heavily as she tried to fill her lungs with oxygen.

"They'll keep the General's forces at bay for awhile." Aria took an approving glance at the devastation done to Cerberus by the cannons, no remorse on her face. This was just the beginning. "Bunker team, retract the bridge and lower the glass door. We're coming in."

* * *

A/N: Sorry out there to the people who wanted Nyreen to be the turian from Garrus's sparring story. It wasn't an easy decision to make; I really waffled on it. When I first heard about a female turian being in the game, I had thought I wanted her to be the same turian (fantasizing how awkward Garrus would act about it). After going back and forth, I finally decided not to go in that direction. After meeting her and learning about her, for me it ultimately went against her character for her to be the flexible turian (speaking of which, did anyone else notice that line from Aria about zero flexibility? The writers had to have known what they were doing when they wrote that). However, I did decide that I wanted them to know each other, as it still seemed to fit with the direction I want to take this in.

Let me know what you think about this or anything else with this chapter!


	4. -4-

A/N: As always, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited or are following this story, means a lot :). Let me know what you think of this latest installment.

* * *

-4-

Shepard watched the hangar door close behind them, propped up against the nearby skycar. She ran her gloved fingers over her burn on her cheek, wiping away the blood and wincing at the contact as she felt the skin pound underneath her fingertips. She raised her omnitool to apply medigel, but Garrus approached her, examining her wound with the same attention as scoping down a target. Without uttering a word or breaking eye contact, he applied his own to the wound. It hurt for a brief second when the salve hit her skin, but the discomfort died down after the initial contact. She hoped the _thank you_ resonated in her dark irises.

"Aria, I know this place is built like a fortress, but is it safe now that the General's clued in?" Nyreen chimed in, approaching Aria.

"Yeah," Shepard agreed, straightening herself. "I feel like a sitting duck here."

"I have no intention of sitting around and you should both know I assume nothing." Aria replied, confidence exuding with each step as she walked towards the hangar door. "And on that front… Nyreen, you left Omega fairly angry with me. I wasn't aware you'd returned. Explain yourself." She still hadn't turned around to Nyreen.

"Truth is I never left," Nyreen admitted. "In fact I went to great lengths to keep from you."

"I'm not easily duped. Well done," Aria said, genuinely impressed. "But why?"

"I just…" Nyreen choked on the words. "Couldn't leave. Considering all this, I wished I had."

"Well," Aria said, spinning around. "You always said I'd be the death of you."

Shepard stepped forward. "Nyreen has military training. We can put her to good use." What was she saying? She hardly knew anything about Nyreen, only what she had seen at first glimpse and what Garrus had told her from thirteen years ago. She had no idea what her current motivations or greater plans were.

Aria's eyebrow rose, clearly just as curious about Shepard's defense. "You're so quick to trust, huh, Shepard, even with the questionable history between your companion and her?"

Garrus jumped in then to provide support, a fact that had Nyreen sending him a questioning look. "Despite our past disagreements, she's quite capable of handling her own. Exactly what you need, isn't it?"

"Capable, perhaps, but Nyreen never approved of Omega's…what did you call it? Moral bankruptcy?" She circled around Nyreen, eying her up and down, as if searching for any sign of deception. "Are you willing to defend it now?"

Nyreen didn't flinch away. "You'll find me very willing to liberate this station."

"Your combat skills are a bit rusty, but you're still a good shot. See my duty officer." Aria pointed to Bray who stood close by, typing away on a datapad.

He came towards them when he spotted Aria motioning him over. Bray directed Nyreen to follow him to the upper level. Once Nyreen was out of earshot, Aria murmured to him, "Bray, keep an eye on her."

Paranoia still strong as ever, it seemed. Good to know she still believed in keeping her friends close and her enemies closer.

"Alright, Shepard, we need to move fast." Aria turned to them once Bray left to catch up with Nyreen. "I'm itching for revenge."

Shepard crossed her arms, a firm frown curved on her lips. "If you think I'm going to let you carve a bloody path through this campaign, you're sadly mistaken."

"And if you think you're going to change me, well…you're welcome to try," Aria replied, unfazed by Shepard's proclamation, strutting away.

"She's right, Jane, you can't change her," Garrus mumbled into her ear as Aria directed them up to the upper level.

"Thought it was worth a try," she murmured back with a sigh.

Aria asked them to check on the minor projects her people were conducting, see if they needed assistance. Once they were done with that, they needed to regroup, coordinate their next phase.

Now was their chance to talk in private, with Aria and Nyreen occupied, but without even opening her mouth, Shepard felt pairs of eyes boring into her back. Though she didn't see anyone staring at them at first glance, she couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched. Why had she thought they could talk in private here? This was Aria's bunker. Her eyes and ears were everywhere, exposing them. Watching their every movement, every sound, for any evidence of betrayal.

Shepard shook herself out of this growing line of thought. She was becoming just as paranoid as Aria.

"Should we go and check on those projects?" Garrus brought her back.

"Yeah. Let's see what these people need."

They made their way inside to the heart of Aria's bunker, where they found Aria's hacker and mechanic on the right side of the room, the former needing terminals hacked, the latter needing a replacement Kehri power inverter. Once they finished talking with them, they approached Aria, who informed them about the darkened areas of the stations, their power syphoned to run the force fields they had seen earlier. While the team at the bunker discovered their source, they would be on the hunt for allies.

Story of Shepard's life.

With civilians trapped by the force fields, they needed to look in the seedier places of Omega, for the hardened criminals who had evaded Cerberus capture.

That meant merc gangs.

The Talons were apparently the only real force that could play ball. Though they weren't saints by any means. Highly-organized drug-runners and cut throats, Aria called them. They'd have to appeal to their lust and greed to keep them in line.

However, she wasn't going to rely solely on one gang, however weakened the others were. They were shadows of their former selves, but they could still be of use. She had united them once against the first wave of the Cerberus take-over, she argued. If they wanted a chance at regaining their former glory, they would come flocking under her banner.

"Reclaim their former glory? You mean letting them exploit the innocent, kicking the helpless again."

"This is Omega. This is how _my _station runs." Aria's voice lowered, contempt detectable in the face of Garrus's protest. "Don't think you can tell _me _how to do things."

"Sorry to interrupt." Shepard couldn't have been more thankful in that moment for Bray's convenient timing, breaking up the growing tension between Garrus and Aria.

"What is it, Bray?" Aria asked, annoyance still visible in her facial features.

"I turned away for a second to offload supplies, when I looked back…"

"You lost her?" Aria finished for him in disbelief.

"We're locked down, she's got to be here somewhere," Shepard replied.

Aria went back to the holo-interface, an image of Omega hovering in the middle, displaying the areas gone dark. "This bunker has secret access points to other parts of the station, unfortunately Nyreen knows them.

Aria motioned for Bray to leave them, whispering, "Damn it, Bray, if I wasn't already short on manpower…"

"Forget about it. We have our objective," Shepard reminded her.

"Yes, I get it, to get the Talons on board. And whoever is left of the other merc gangs. That is not up for debate," Aria said, a not so subtle jab at Garrus.

Garrus's mandibles flared, providing Shepard a view of his sharp, clenched teeth, but he didn't fire back at Aria. He then caught Shepard's gaze with his.

_I don't like it either, but we have no choice_, she said with a single look.

_I know. I know this has to be done, _he replied back with his own, though he still looked agitated. Finally, he told Shepard he would meet them both by the door when ready.

"I knew he'd be a liability. He's already starting to get ideas in that idealistic head of his," Aria commented as Shepard watched Garrus walk away.

"He's more pragmatic than you think, Aria, look at how he spoke up for Nyreen. But can't you see how difficult this is for him to willingly ally with the gangs?" Shepard defended.

Aria's face remained an emotionless mask. "I have no sympathy for him, Shepard. He brought all that on himself by screwing with them. This operation is too sensitive for his personal feelings to undermine it. If you won't rein him in, I will, and I'm certainly not as _gentle _as you'd be."

"Like you were able to keep a tight leash on Nyreen?" The words were out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop them.

Aria luckily remained unfazed by the insult. "You mean her disappearing act? Honestly I'm not concerned. If it was anyone else, I'd want blood, but Nyreen is a variable I can control. She believes in a code of ethics. She _oozes_ virtue."

"You two must have made an interesting pair," Shepard said, happy to have taken the spotlight off Garrus.

"Opposites attract, right? Our connection was powerful, but doomed. Nyreen demonstrated zero flexibility. She couldn't put up with the challenges of my life." Was that a hint of regret Shepard detected?

If it was, there was no trace of it when Aria continued, "That's all you're getting out of me on the subject, Shepard."

"Aria, full tactical assessment at twenty percent. Should be able to figure out source of the power syphoning."

"Keep at it, Ahs. I want it done by the time we return from the Talon outpost."

That reminded Shepard. The General, the leader of the Cerberus occupation. "What about the General? How are we going to get to him?"

"Once the Talons and any others are on board, we'll deal with those force fields. Until they're powered off, we can't attack him. They block access to most of the station, including Afterlife, where he's set up his command center. No doubt a deliberate move to piss me off."

"Don't let it get to you. He wants you off balance," Shepard urged.

"Anger helps me focus," Aria countered, caressing the word _anger_ like it was a tender lover.

"What about Petrovsky himself?"

"He presumes to sit on my throne, that's all that matters."

_That was remarkably helpful._

"I get that you hate him, Aria, but I need to know who we're up against."

"Alright, I'll admit he's not like other Cerberus operatives I've encountered. He's smart, thinks outside the box, very hard to predict. He's like his boss, no matter who suffers and no matter the cost, he stops at nothing. To defeat him, we have to be prepared to do the same," Aria said, eyes resting on Garrus at the other end of the hall, examining his rifle at the weapons bench.

Shepard stepped in front of her, blocking her view to Garrus. "I get the message, but if this partnership is going to work, you're going to stop egging him on and boxing him into a corner."

"In case you weren't aware, Shepard, he planned to usurp me."

Of course Aria knew about this, whatever the plan had been. Nothing truly did escape her notice.

"I can't ignore that, even if you both claim his priorities have changed. Over the centuries, I've learned a smart enemy always hits you exactly where and when you think you're safe. I haven't ruled Omega as long as I have without keeping a vigilant eye on everything and everyone who could pose a threat."

"Then I guess you'll have to trust me," Shepard replied, knowing she couldn't say anything else to calm Aria's paranoia. "But his safety is non-negotiable."

Aria's eyes darkened. "I warned you before you even came I couldn't guarantee it. That has not changed." She inched forward, their faces only inches apart. "This is the last time I'm going to warn you, Shepard. Keep your lover on a tight leash."

Flashing on the console next to Aria caught her attention. "Is the cross-examination over because time is of the essence?"

"You're off the hook." Shepard began walking away to join Garrus and let Aria finish up before they moved out.

_For now._

* * *

They moved at a slower pace to the Talons outpost, encountering wave after wave of Cerberus resistance. At least Garrus was able to hack the necessary terminals, allowing for Aria's hacker to gain control to more systems.

They encountered a few injured Talons sprayed across the ground in various locations along the way, who expressed their gratitude when Shepard provided them with medigel, but no other civilians. More importantly, no other mercs.

Shepard hoped that their inclusion ultimately wouldn't be necessary. If their numbers were as decimated as Aria claimed, would they really be of any use? Though Shepard suspected Aria wanted them to pledge their loyalty now, that promising them former glory was the best means of ensuring their undying commitment to her cause. Not to say Shepard didn't have to worry about the Talons. Even if Garrus didn't tangle with them as often, if any of them recognized him…

Why was she so worried, she scolded herself as she fired an incinerate blast at the last assault trooper in the area. The gangs were weakened, their like was nothing they hadn't faced before. If anything, she should be more concerned over Aria's threat. If there had been any doubts whether she would try to harm Garrus if he posed a threat in her mind, their latest conversation put a nail in that coffin. She knew Aria was a valuable ally, that regaining control of Omega would be a war asset, but why was Shepard already getting the sense this was becoming more trouble than it was worth?

She had to stop worrying. Garrus wasn't a child. He had trained in the turian military and had been a C-Sec investigator. He had proven time and time again he could handle himself, even letting him lead the distraction teams twice (much to Miranda's disappointment) on the Collector Base and he had gotten everyone through safely.

No matter how many times she tried to tell herself this, she couldn't help but fret over it. Look over her shoulder on the off-chance a sniper scope stuck out from a corner. She had never been overly superstitious, but she would never forget the image of him. Lying in that growing pool of blue blood in his bunker on Omega, his every breath a struggle, blood gurgling from his throat, his entire body shaking. That image haunted her memories, her dreams, reminding her how easily she could have lost him.

Garrus was right, Shepard thought as she unlocked the door in front of her that led to Talon territory. Love really did turn you into a nervous wreck.

The door opened to reveal a number of Cerberus commandos, guns locked on members of the Talons. Shepard raised her Predator, preparing to shoot Cerberus before they killed the marooned-armored (which had the Talon insignia on their right side) soldiers, but a turian in the same colored armor leapt from the rafters above, shooting two of the men and neutralizing the others with her biotics.

A few Talons approached her and she gave them orders to prepare to move out. Only after she gave them their orders did Nyreen Kandros look back at them standing in the doorway, hands still glowing from her biotics. Shepard hadn't even heard of a turian biotic before and she hadn't noticed Nyreen display any biotic powers outside the bunker (not that she had been paying any real attention).

"My, my…" Aria sauntered over to Nyreen, taking her in as if for the first time. "Nyreen, aren't you full of surprises."

"Aria…" Nyreen's tone was level, but she didn't make eye-contact with Aria, instead choosing to look over a fallen Talon. "The deception was necessary. I needed to figure out what your plans were." She stood up and faced them then. "The people of Omega depend on us. I couldn't risk compromising our operations."

"Never thought I'd see the day when you willingly became a merc," Garrus commented, studying her through critical eyes. Shepard noted the conflicting emotions in his dual-tone, as if he didn't know how to react to this latest development.

"I still held onto my honor, Vakarian, which is more than I can say for most." Nyreen emitted an exhausted sigh, her shoulders sagging. "The Talons were a mess when Cerberus invaded and the former leader, Derius, was killed. I took control and brought…new direction. The General's been hunting us ever since. He's attacking one of our outposts, that's where I need to be."

She strode to a nearby console to lower a create against the door, one of her mercs informing her they had taken care of everything here.

"Aria, Commander Shepard, Vakarian, whatever you're here for, the answer's no. Kindly escort yourselves off Talon territory." She fixed each of them with a firm glance.

"We're here to help. We'll talk about it after we reach your outpost."

Nyreen hummed in surprise. "That's a generous offer. Aria, does the Commander also speak for you?"

Aria didn't answer right away. "Not the way I would have put it, but that's the idea," she said, strained, her fingers tapping against her arms in synchronization with the beeping alarm above them.

"And you, Vakarian?" Nyreen directed to Garrus.

To Shepard's disbelief, he replied, "She does. It's clear you have the peoples' interests in mind. Kind of refreshing to see around here."

Nyreen's eyes widened and her mandibles fluttered. "Surprising coming from you. Just as surprising as you defending me at the bunker."

"Thirteen years changes a lot of things, Kandros."

Nyreen hummed again, but let the matter drop for the moment (whatever it was that happened between them years ago).

"Alright, then, come with me."

Nyreen lead them to a door revealing yet another elevator, leaving Shepard time to ponder. Now that Garrus had seen Nyreen as the Talon leader, he appeared more at ease, knowing someone with integrity was running things. So whatever had happened all those years ago, despite their initial sniping, clearly Nyreen saw Garrus in a more negative light than Garrus did of her. Which raised the question of what Garrus could have possible done as a recruit that had been so terrible in Nyreen's eyes. She had sounded surprised when Garrus expressed concerns over civilians. Did they go on a mission where a choice was made between saving civilians or pressing forward and completing their objective?

One thing was for sure. If Nyreen disapproved of his actions from whatever happened thirteen years ago, how would she react to the revelation Garrus had been Archangel?

Not that it didn't make Shepard squirmy in the pit of her stomach thinking about it. He had had good intentions; she never questioned that, but she remembered going through the old Shadow Broker's files Liara had dug up. Seeing that kill list, how he had dispatched some of those criminals. It would be hard to argue those people didn't deserve to die, but to prolong it like he did, to kill a red sand dealer by overdosing him with red sand (possibly pouring it into his eyes)…

Shepard never brought it up to him. Maybe in hindsight she should have, but she hadn't seen the point, as it seemed like he had begun to move on and she didn't want to bring back bad memories. She could only hope that being back here wouldn't make that dark side of Garrus resurface.

The outpost wasn't too far from their current location. They fought through a wave of rampant mechs, Atlases, and various Cerberus troopers (the agile Phantoms were a personal favorite for Shepard), all seemingly focused on taking down Nyreen. Or Target Alpha, as she was classified as. Once the final wave was cleared from the catwalk, they quickly ducked inside the now-unlocked door.

"We'll be evacuating this location as soon as possible. Try not to interfere with our peoples' work," Nyreen requested, leading them into a room with a comm tower soaring towards the high ceiling in the middle of the room.

Shepard continued examining their set-up, only tuning back in when she heard the word "Adjutant."

"Creatures created by Cerberus," Nyreen said when Shepard asked. "They eviscerate their victims' DNA, converting them into more Adjutants." Nyreen handed Shepard a datapad with an image of these so-called Adjutants. Bloated aqua sacs weighed down on its back and head, even part of its shoulders. It possessed the typical arms and legs intertwined with mechanical wires characteristic of Reaper-creatures, but this one like the Cannibal had an arm cannon. It also had multiple tentacles hanging from its mouth, some aqua-colored, some the grey of a mechanical wire. Finally, its eyes glowed with a pulsing synthetic light.

"Some kind of Reaper based weapon. I've fought them before. The Illusive Man planned their release onto the station as a ruse to lure me away from Omega. They're a nightmare," Aria added.

"It got worse after you left," Nyreen interjected, voice more anxious. "Cerberus lost control of them. Those things tore apart the gangs, then attacked everyone in sight. If Cerberus hadn't found a way to contain them, the entire station would be infected by now."

"So much for relying on any of the others gangs." The other gangs had to be finished, between the trouble in 2185 and this. Their inclusion wouldn't be a major point of contention anymore.

Aria seemed less convinced. "Some of their members have to still be out there. Ahs will find them."

They walked towards the comm tower, heading up the stairs, brushing past Talons bringing in wounded civilians.

"I'm impressed, Kandros. Keeping your people alive through that couldn't have been easy."

Nyreen paused in her step, allowing unease to shine through. "It's a hollow victory, Vakarian. I watched friends get turned into monsters and_ I_ had to kill them." Her sub-flang trembled under the weight of emotion.

"The Adjutants really got under her skin," Aria muttered to Shepard while Nyreen was distracted by one of her mercs giving a progress report.

"You've done an excellent job, Nyreen, but I'll be taking over now," Aria said when Nyreen had finished speaking with the merc. Displeasure crossed Nyreen's face at Aria's words. "You know what happens to people who argue with me."

"And if I say no, you'll just kill me and take over? My people won't stand for that."

"Yes, they do seem _nauseatingly_ loyal," Aria said, surveying the members of the Talons below her. Either way, I'll get what I want."

"Not this time," Nyreen argued, showing no sign of backing down.

"You take over one gang and you think you're ready to decide what's best for Omega?" Aria asked, incredulous at the very thought anyone else could think themselves worthy of ruling Omega. "Nyreen, watch and learn."

Aria stepped on the center of the platform, demanding Ahs through the comm channel whether everything was ready for her grandiose speech to be broadcast across the station. Watching Aria embolden the people of Omega to rise against their oppressors when the time came, she exemplified power and strength. She conveyed a fierce protectiveness of Omega and its people similar to a mother tiger ready to leap to the defense of her young, but Shepard knew the cold, hard truth.

Aria may have been right. Under her rule, the peoples' lives may have been theirs, but she would sacrifice them all if it meant gaining control of Omega again. And in a way, she seemed intent on doing just that.

"That's your plan, throw civilians at Cerberus?" Nyreen demanded when Aria finished, voicing Shepard's thoughts outloud.

"Anything is better than being locked up like mindless animals waiting for slaughter," Aria answered simply.

"I know what you're up to, Aria, and I don't like it…" Her attention was distracted by the sight of a Talon supporting a limping civilian to a nearby gurney. "I have civilians to evacuate, we'll deal with this later."

"I agree with Nyreen. Using civilians as cannon fodder…what exactly are you trying to do?" Shepard asked when Nyreen left.

"Trying? The people of Oemga, _my_ people, love a good street fight. When it breaks loose, they'll be ready. Nyreen's code of ethics won't let her sit by if civilians are exposed. It's what makes her utterly predictable, and therefore, easy to manipulate."

Before Shepard could reply, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. the error message on the vid screens of the comm tower suddenly disappeared, General Oleg Petrovsky in its place a moment later.

"Guessing he didn't appreciate your little speech." Aria's eyes locked onto Garrus at his comment, her gaze as sharp as piercing daggers.

"Citizens of Omega. Do not be taken in by Aria T'Loak's promises of freedom. She is not your salvation, but your destruction. She would throw all your lives away, encourage you all to rise against us, but what chance do you think you'd have? She does not care for you, but rather her own power, her lust for control of what she believes is hers by right."

Shepard recognized Aria's old hangout in Afterlife in the background of the vid, but her old couch had been thrown out to make room for his various consoles for his command center. An in-progress chessboard, a mix of real wooden and holo-graphic chess pieces on the board, was in clear sight.

"Ask yourselves, how free were you under her? She allowed the gangs to engage in power struggles at your expense so she would be free from threat. She lived like a queen while most of you lived in squalor, trying to scrape by from day to day. She claims to be your liberator from our oppression, but what is she liberating you back to? What do you gain?"

"Bastard's wasting his breath. The people won't be taken in," Aria commented, eyes still riveted on the screen, no sign of panic on her face. Only seething anger.

"Ask yourselves this. Think of the chaos last time she tried to take Omega back from us, when it was clearly a losing battle? How many died, how many loved ones or friends did you lose? How many will die this time?

"She believes her secret weapon, the great Commander Shepard, will bring a victory, but she's just one woman. She's not the paragon of the galaxy everyone claims her to be. She has come to Aria's aid, to ensure Aria regains her place as ruler of Omega, no matter the cost. She cannot and will not protect you all."

Shepard had never been an "ends justify the means" type of person and her record proved that, time and time again, a fact that should not have escaped Petrovsky. What the hell was he playing at?

"So, I submit to you. If Aria or Commander Shepard are brought to me, I will lift some of the restrictions. You will be allowed to return to your homes. And to the gangs of Omega who are in hiding, under Cerberus control, you can rise to your former glory. As a bonus of good faith, you can exact your revenge on the one who brought your organizations to ruin. The vigilante Archangel is not dead; in fact, he has returned and is fighting alongside the Commander and Aria." A twinkle of malice sparked in his eyes. "You're free to do with him as you wish."

Shepard felt the color drain from her face. She didn't even hear Petrovsky's last words. All she could focus on was him going to his chessboard and moving his pawn, capturing the queen by knocking the holo-image of the queen piece onto the board with a clank, a victorious smile that looked almost sinister in the light gracing his lips, before the camera feed turned to static.

Somehow she knew that smile had been meant for her, and his message was clear…

_Your move, Commander Shepard. _


	5. -5-

A/N: As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or are following this story. Makes my day to see those notifications coming into my inbox.

Also, if you're interested, be sure to check out my off-shoot to this story about the aftermath with the Leviathan called _Something to Lose_. Major Shakarian feels in that story.

Hope you enjoy this latest update and let me know what you think of this chapter. See you all in 2013!

* * *

-5-

"You may have single-handedly fucked over this entire operation!"

Aria was pacing back and forth in front of them in a spare weapons alcove she had all but dragged Garrus and Shepard into. Not the best place for a heated argument, especially not when Aria's biotics were flaring every few seconds.

"That's not fair, Aria. No one could have foreseen this," Shepard defended, eyeing Aria's glowing form warily.

"I told you what he was like, Shepard. This was not above him. Of course we could have seen it coming," Aria said, practically spitting fire, the biotic glow radiating from her body surging again.

"However much the gangs hated me, at least I didn't set Reaper mutants on them. I'm going to take a guess that outweighs depriving them of profits," Garrus argued just as forcefully.

Aria's fist clinched at her side. "Don't you get it?" she hissed. "He has all the cards in his hands! Now it looks like I willingly accepted the aid of the very man responsible for their downfall. Any leverage I might have had is gone. Not only does he promise them glory and profit, but your head on a spike. What do I have left to offer, unless I offer the same?"

Shepard started at that. "I hope you're not suggesting…"

"Relax, Shepard. Your partnership is crucial to this plan's success. Just as long as you remember what I said."

"We'll keep an eye out," Shepard assured her, ignoring the allusion. "But in the meantime, we stick to the plan. We even still might be able to convince the other mercs to join our cause."

Aria's eyebrow arched, looking at Shepard as if she had grown two heads.

"Your optimism is almost inspiring, Shepard, but unless the same terms are put forth, we'll have no chance." The biotic light around Aria disappeared, seemingly curbing her impulse to lash out. "I'm going to check on the status of the Talons, make sure Nyreen is properly preparing them. They may be all we got."

When Aria left the room, Shepard let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"This is quickly becoming the mission from hell."

"I don't know," Garrus said thoughtfully. "We've definitely had worse. Like retrieving the Reaper IFF from the derelict Reaper with wave after wave of husks coming after us? Or the suicide mission to the Collector Base?"

"At least those were simple. All we had to do was kill every single husk and Collector in our way. At least we got everyone through and didn't have to deal with maintaining a fragile peace with a paranoid asari." Shepard ran a hand through her hair, grimacing as her fingers got caught in some end tangles. "I don't know, Garrus. I'm starting to think we should have just gone on to Thessia."

"You said it yourself. This would be a major blow to Cerberus. And since they seem to have the upper-hand lately, that makes this even more crucial."

"Yeah." Shepard finally got her fingers free from the web in her hair. "I know."

"And though I don't regret my decision to come with you…"

Shepard's lips twitched. "Stowing away, you mean?"

"Semantics," Garrus drawled with a dismissive wave of his hand. "But it might have been easier to work with her if I hadn't."

"Maybe not, with her attitude. Our personalities don't really seem to mesh well."

"Like her and Kandros." Garrus shook his head. "Never would have believed it of her thirteen years ago."

That reminded her. They were finally alone.

"About her. There's something more than what you told me, isn't there? How she said she was surprised you showed concern for civilians, when you stuck up for her to Aria?"

It had been difficult to gauge Nyreen's reaction to Petrovsky's revelation. Shepard hadn't even had time to glance over at her before Aria directed Shepard and Garrus away. Though she swore she heard her berate one of her Talons that Cerberus was the only one they needed to be concerned about. But that didn't mean anything, reveal anything about Nyreen's personal feelings on subject.

"Nothing ever gets past you." Garrus plopped himself down on an overturned crate that seemed too short for him, pushing his knees into the chestplate of his armor. "There was something that happened. On a mission."

Shepard then spotted a few extra thermal clips for her Widow. She went for them as Garrus began talking.

"I had been stationed on the _Intrepid_ for a year, when we got called to assist a freighter that had been taken captive by pirates. The raider, a turian named Caelinus Targaris, was notorious for attacking turian colonies, along with raiding military supply ships. Even attempted to assassinate one of the members of the Hierarchy. He quickly became one of the Hierarchy's most sought after men. Course we didn't know at the time it was him, he switched out merc groups on a fairly consistent basis."

Shepard gestured to the thermal clips, silently asking Garrus if he needed any. He gave a curt nod in reply as he continued.

"We entered the ship and found out where the hostages were being kept, but we were ambushed before we could reach them. Boxed in. By the time it was said and done, only the two of us were left of the infiltration team."

"Sounds familiar." Shepard inserted the spare clips into her belt. "Did you request additional back-up?"

Garrus nodded. "We were able to get into a comm room, contact the ship. Tell them the situation. Initially we were told to assist the hostages. But then the XO himself came online, informing us Targaris's neutralization or capture was our top priority. He didn't say who it was, unsure channels and all, but we suspected."

Shepard could already sense where all this was going. "Let me guess. She wanted to stay and help the hostages while you wanted to go after the captain."

Garrus's mandibles twitched. "Why finish the story when you figured out the plot?"

"I'd still like to hear the end. Can't get enough of your voice."

His mandibles flicked again, clear amusement in his eyes. "Regardless, I'll still spare you the minute details. Our disagreement led to us splitting up. I went to monitor Targaris while she tried to free the hostages. Or at the very least, secure the area."

He sighed then, as if scolding the memory of his younger self. "He was completely unguarded. I thought I could take the shot. I missed the son of a bitch by an inch. Before I could stop it, without saying a word, he vented the room the hostages were in, killing them all within less than a minute. Kandros was pinned down and she was forced to watch them all suffocate. Meanwhile, Targaris summoned more of his mercs to keep me occupied while he escaped. But he didn't count on me being able to lock down the escape pods and surrounding area, giving the reinforcements time to arrive and capture him."

"So how it'd all end?" Shepard asked, moving to stand directly over Garrus and handing him the clips.

"Seeing no way off the freighter and rather than going back to Palaven to stand trial, he locked himself in an alcove and shot himself in the head. Despite how it all turned out, I was lauded up and down by our XO for my actions and quick thinking."

"And Nyreen?"

"She wasn't given the same accolades. At the time, I thought that's why she hated me. Now I understand. She blamed me for being too rash, not going to help the hostages. Their blood was on my hands, I was no better than Targaris, I remember her telling me. I thought it was just another one of her lectures."

In the back of her mind, she saw it, like a vid playing out, its picture crystal clear. Her on the old Normandy, on the lower deck. Talking with Garrus about Dr. Saleon, the freak of a geneticist who grew cloned organs inside people. Scolding him when Garrus said Saleon's escaping shuttle should have been shot down with those hostages still on it. Telling Garrus if he didn't care about the fate of those hostages, he was no better than Saleon. Nothing more than a terrorist with a badge.

She noticed Garrus staring at her. "Doesn't seem like she's forgiven you for it."

"Don't worry. She may still hate me, but it looks like she's got bigger things to worry about."

Outside the room, a flurry of activity seemed to erupt, with sprinting footsteps and frenzied shouting echoing in the air.

"Should we go see what's going on? Unless there's something else you want to talk about."

Had she become that easy to read to him?

"Yeah. There is. About Aria." Shepard braced herself. "What was your plan? Were you really planning to take her down?"

Shepard detected the change in Garrus even before she had finished speaking. The laughter in his eyes had completely disappeared and she could sense an invisible wall coming up around him. He stood up from the crate. He no longer had to crane his neck to look at her, but he still averted his gaze. "Jane…"

"I need to know, Garrus," she continued, refusing to back down. Not when they finally had an opportunity.

"What does it matter anymore? Besides, we didn't even have the resources. It was just building blocks." His mandibles twitched again, but not in laughter, before they clenched tightly against his face. He still wasn't looking her in the eye.

Shepard fixed that by guiding his face back. She kept her hand sprawled out over his face plates as she said, "Aria's convinced you're going to instigate a coup against her, no matter what I tell her. What exactly were you going to do?"

Shepard gave Garrus time to collect his thoughts.

"Things were going well against the gangs. Many of the men wanted to quit, use the credits we had made to settle down or be with their families. I pushed them into staying, continuing our work. I believed we couldn't quit after everything we had accomplished, with everything we still had left to do. With our influence, we could completely eradicate the gangs. Even take out the _de facto _queen of Omega."

"An ambitious undertaking," Shepard said quietly, running her thumb over one of his ridges.

Garrus gave a dark laugh, a cold laugh that had uncomfortable shivers going down Shepard's spine. "That's what the others thought. Maybe we could take down the mercs, but Aria's eyes and ears were everywhere. We would never be able to pull it off. But I outlined it anyway. Either find a way to trap her without any of her minions along, or strike elsewhere."

"Strike at her home, you mean? Like you did with Tarak?"

"That was one of the options." He frowned when he saw the disquieted look on Shepard's face. "I didn't see myself as staging a coup; I had no desire to sit on her throne. I saw myself as ridding Omega of another criminal. I had thought I erased all traces of the plan when I was in that day-long shoot-out, but obviously not. "

She didn't like the shady tone growing in his voice or the harsh light in his eyes. This wasn't her Garrus. This was the personality of another man he had become during the years of her death, that of the vigilante. It was as if Archangel hadn't completely died and had been waiting for his chance to take control of Garrus again. Exactly what she hoped, believed, wouldn't happen.

She pulled her hand away as quickly as if she had been burned, gloved fingers digging into her skin as she pinched the bridge of her nose with her other hand. "God damn it, Garrus," Shepard ground out, letting her frustration get the better of her and fuel her words. "To think you'd even get close enough to Aria without getting caught, let alone…I knew you were reckless, but this…and now you're rising to her taunts, making her suspect even more…"

"She has to be challenged. You know if Petrovsky uses a bunch of civilians as shields, she'd kill every single one in her way! And promising the gangs their former glory? You know exactly what that means!" A low and dangerous growl had entered his voice now, cobalt eyes lacking the warmth she had become accustomed to seeing.

Shepard squared her shoulders, straightened herself, trying to seem as intimidating. "So what you suggest we do, Vakarian? Throw Cerberus or those Adjutants at her, let them tear her apart, make it look like an accident? That's what you were all about as Archangel, wasn't it? An eye for an eye, a life for a life?" She sneered. "I saw the old Shadow Broker files on you, saw a kill list of notable criminal deaths on Omega. Suffocating a viral specialist, making him cough himself to death? Overdosing a red sand dealer by pouring it directly into his eyes? Then that slaver? Gunshot wounds, rifle butts to the face, and third degree burns all over his body?"

He seemed to tower above her now. "Those people deserved nothing less." Her heart sunk at his words, at his defense for his actions. "A message needed to be sent. If they were going to exploit and terrorize the innocent, then they would suffer heavy repercussions for their actions."

She hadn't seen him this angry since they had tracked down Sidonis. The way he had showed no qualms in shooting Harkin (who was a scumbag, no question there) in the leg, how he had sounded like he almost took pleasure seeing Harkin in agony. And when they were in that skycar, Garrus telling her Harkin had deserved to be punished…it had worried her to see Garrus trapped in such a dark place, his anger and guilt driving his actions.

She couldn't have been more relieved when he had spared Sidonis. She had certainly played her own role, coaxed Garrus, but he was one of the best snipers in the galaxy. He could have easily shot him, even with her blocking the shot. But he didn't. He had made the final decision to let Sidonis go on his own. Archangel hadn't completely taken him over and he could finally begin to let go.

At least she had thought that the case.

"You didn't just kill them, grant them quick deaths, Garrus. You tortured them, made them suffer before they died! I would have expected that type of treatment from Cerberus, even Aria, but not you."

The rational part of her was screaming for her to stop, that this was not helping anything. The emotional part of her told it to fuck off. They were both wired. It couldn't be helped.

"I'm nothing like her!" He was outraged now. "I actually tried bettering the lives of the people here, not trying to consolidate my power at their expense!

"And you don't have the right to lecture me about being reckless, _Commander_." He said her title with such derision she had never heard from him before. "You've made a career defining the word. Your stunt on Desponia…"

"We had to find the Leviathan!" They had been over this already. She thought he had understood these types of risks had to be taken. "Did you want to be stuck on top of that ship when that Reaper showed up?"

"Luring in a Reaper on foot on Rannoch," Garrus continued listing off, no trace of humor in his voice, as there usually would have been. Should have been.

"The geth would have stayed under Reaper control."

How had this gotten out of control so fast, when they had been joking, teasing, each other only moments before?

He still wasn't done. "Going to rescue that doctor on Aratoht alone."

"Stop it now, Vakarian, I mean it!" she ordered in her best commanding voice.

A wild look rested in Garrus's eyes now. Archangel had completely taken over. "If I needed a better example of reckless, all I have to do is look at how you went back for Joker on the SR-1! If it wasn't for that, I would never have ended up on Omega in the first place!"

Time stood still in the moment those words were uttered. The air felt unbearably thick, like Shepard was trying to breathe through clouds of smoke. The words struck her like a bullet in the chest, lodging into her heart. Her anger deflated like a balloon. Those words stung more than she cared to admit, like salt water on an open wound, but how true they were.

Was that really how he felt? This whole time? Even when he told her he loved her, didn't want to live the rest of his life without her, did some part of him truly blame her for what he went through? How much of that was just Archangel talking? He had said it with such strong conviction…She could usually read people well and her uncertainty now, whether he really meant it or not, what it meant for their relationship if he did, frightened her.

Garrus seemed to regain control over himself, finally subduing Archangel, anger in his eyes disappearing as he realized what he had just said. "Jane, I…I didn't…"

Shepard stopped him with a raise of her hand, silencing any attempts to wash away his hurtful words. She hoped how much they had cut her didn't show on her face. "No. It's true. If I hadn't gone back for Joker, I wouldn't have died. You wouldn't have gone to Omega. And we wouldn't be in this situation." She gave a strangled laugh, devoid of any amusement, swallowing down the growing lump in her throat. "Least I know now how you really feel."

Garrus tried to reach for her, take her in his arms, but Shepard stepped away. "Jane, please…"

Shepard nearly jumped when someone cleared their throat at the doorway. Nyreen had entered without either of them noticing. How much of that argument had she heard?

"Cerberus is making another push. They've amassed at the hangar bay. Aria's waiting for you by the entrance." Nyreen's face was a blank slate, providing no indication of what she had heard, how she felt, though her eyes darted between the two of them as if analyzing them.

"Let's move, then."

Shepard unsheathed her pistol, following Nyreen out before Garrus had a chance to pull her back, leaving their kingdom of the Bottle Shooters in complete disarray.


	6. -6-

A/N: Greetings, readers! Hope your new year has started off well. As always, thanks to those who reviewed, favorited, or are following this story.

Also, for those who sent in reviews last chapter, know it was just as painful for me to write that fight between Garrus and Shepard, but that annoying little thing called plot dictated it.

Hope you enjoy this latest installment!

* * *

-6-

It didn't take long to eliminate the Cerberus troops trying to invade the Talon tower. Once it was over, Nyreen affirmed her vow to join their cause, mainly to join the growing number of people trying to keep Aria in-line, but stating she maintained command over her people. Aria readily agreed, seemingly content the Talons were on board, in light of her skepticism over the other mercs.

On the way back to Aria's bunker, Shepard stayed alongside Aria the whole time so she wouldn't have to look at Garrus. For a woman willing to take about any risk asked of her, she was such a coward when it came to her personal issues. It wasn't like she had trouble expressing her emotions, but the possible ramifications from this fight were too much for her to handle at the moment.

She still believed going after Aria was a venture doomed to fail (nothing Garrus could say would convince her otherwise), a pipe dream at best, but it had been a low blow to bring up that kill list, equate his actions with Cerberus or Aria. He had never killed innocents, only those he had thought deserved it. It made her uneasy, how they had died, but to insinuate he was no better? Little wonder he had said those hurtful words.

She wanted to believe Garrus didn't mean it, that it was merely something said out of anger due to Archangel dominating him, but no matter how hard she tried, the seeds of doubt had been planted in her mind and were growing in her mind at an exponential rate.

Because the truth of it was he was right. She hadn't told him to go to Omega, but her death had been a contributing factor to his ultimate decision to go. If she had stayed alive, she would have been able to talk him out of it or even convinced him to come back to the Normandy while they scoured the galaxy looking for trouble and running over geth in the Mako. Just like old times.

But instead she ended up spaced and he went on a suicide run, angering all of Omega's crime syndicate.

The last thing she wanted to do was let Aria on there had been a fight between them. She would not put it past Aria to try and manipulate her feelings, since she openly admitted she was playing Nyreen. Shepard swore Aria was already giving her questioning looks out of the corner of her eye as they approached the entrance to the bunker.

"We're almost there, Shepard," Aria said as they entered the bunker and made for the holographic interface in the middle of the room. "The Talons will be the front line fodder. Now we just need to bring down the forcefields to clear the way to Afterlife."

"Which will release Omega's civilians," Shepard finished for her.

"Cerberus will have a million fires to put out. In one fell swoop, we'll have the people and the Talons working for us."

Shepard frowned. "You might not want to compromise your alliance before it even takes shape."

Aria's lips were set in a firm line. "I've learned not to put much stock in truth and goodwill."

"It might be time to start again."

"Tell you what. I'll take it under advisement," Aria said, walking away to talk to Ahs about the location of Cerberus's power syphoning.

"I'd have better luck convincing a brick wall," Shepard muttered to herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose as a jolt of pain pulsed in the back of her eyes.

She didn't hear Garrus step beside her until she felt him by her side.

"I'm going to look over my rifle. Yours didn't sound right out at the tower. Do you want me to take a look?" It had sounded like it was making a strange noise upon the recoil. Maybe she shouldn't have meeled that Centurion with it.

His gaze remained fixed straight ahead and he kept on shifting his weight, like he was nervous, didn't know how she'd react to the offer. Was this his way of an apology? Or was it merely an attempt to make things normal between them?

Even as Shepard unhooked her rifle and handed it to Garrus, her hand touching his briefly, the electric tension crackling between them didn't go away. It probably wouldn't until they had the chance to talk in private. Most likely not until after the mission. She didn't know if she'd be able to make it that long.

"I'll stay over here until we move out. Probably best I stay out of Aria's way for awhile."

Though it wasn't directly related to their recent argument, it still reminded her of it and it made her chest ache.

She opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say, but knowing she had to say something before she lost her nerve.

She was interrupted by the arrival of their recently acquired ally, Bray fast on her heels.

"Aria, my patrol caught her in the perimeter."

"Please. You didn't catch me. We're…" Nyreen hesitated. "Allies now. Didn't Aria tell you?"

"Nyreen was expected, Bray. Return to your station," Aria directed.

When Bray walked away, Nyreen informed Aria the Talons were ready for what was to come.

"But if I'm sending my people into the fire," she continued, "I want to make sure those forcefields come down for good. So like or not, you're stuck with me."

Aria slinked closer to Nyreen. "It's almost as if you don't trust me." Her voice was back to that predatory whisper Shepard had become so familiar with.

"It's exactly as if I don't trust you," Nyreen replied just as firmly.

Why was she always the one who had to be the mediator?

Shepard gave a tired sigh before stepping closer to them, breaking them up before it got out of hand. "We're going to war together. I'll make sure we can rely on each other."

"Agreed, Commander." Nyreen sounded relieved at Shepard's intervention. "Glad one of you isn't on a power trip," she added, pointedly looking at Aria.

Aria responded by directing her to wait by the medbay while Shepard and her hashed out the next phase of their plan to cut down the source of the forcefields, which Aria had discovered from Ahs was one of Aria's main reactors deep in the bowels of Omega's mines. Shepard frowned at Aria not including the others, but said nothing to Aria about the subject.

It didn't take long to work out there was a back way to the reactor, through a powered down processing plant through one of the mines. From there, they could reach the mines and then take an elevator to the reactor's back door.

Why it was powered down was a mystery, but it was too late to worry about that. Judging by the state of Aria's bunker (the outside doors to the hangar were now sealed and blocked off with biotic forcefields), Cerberus was wasting no time initiating counter attacks.

Once she finished discussing matters with Aria, she made her rounds around the area, checking on Aria's hacker and ensuring the terminals were still operational, giving the engineer that power inverter she found behind a crate at the Talons's compound, even promising Harrot the shopkeeper to locate Aria's old couch the General had disposed of.

Garrus had already begun work on his rifle, switching out one mod with another, keeping him occupied until they were ready to leave. Finding her courage to say something drained away, Shepard made her way over to the medbay, where Nyreen was pacing in a small line back and forth.

"Commander," she greeted when Shepard reached her. "I'm glad you came over. I know time is short. but I was hoping we could talk...alone."

Shepard chanced a quick glance over at Aria, who was busy talking with Ahs. "Aria and Garrus will be joining us soon. Now may be your only chance."

They walked the few steps over to the stretchers by the wall to provide some semblance of privacy.

"I'm not trying to undermine Aria," Nyreen insisted. "I know she has to be ruthless. Let her have revenge. I'm not doing this for me. And I'm not doing it for Aria or what we once had."

"It's for the people of Omega," Shepard said, understanding perfectly well. "I get it."

A troubled expression manifested itself onto her face. "Someone has to be their voice in all this. Incredibly powerful forces are about to do battle, with them caught in the middle. I just hope as we bring down those forcefields and go to war, that you'll continue to keep the people in mind."

She could definitely see why Nyreen's personality would have rubbed Garrus the wrong way back in the turian military. Though she respected her and agreed with her ideals, Shepard couldn't help but feel irritated at Nyreen's lecturing tone.

"Are your people ready for the fight?" Shepard asked, shaking off her annoyance. "When the forcefields come down, this could turn into a real bloodbath to get to Afterlife."

"You needn't worry about the Talons, Shepard," Nyreen assured her. "They may have been thieves and scoundrels once, but they serve with integrity now. We're fighting for a better world. I have to wonder if the same can be said for our asari friend."

"She believes she's fighting for the peoples' liberation, that any blood will be on Petrovsky's hands, not hers."

"She can tell herself that all she likes. But we both know what's most important to her. If this goes sideways, blood will be spilt. Innocent blood. All in the name of her regaining control of Omega. Petrovsky and Cerberus need to be defeated, but I only hope the cost will not be too high."

"What is your impression of Petrovsky?" Shepard asked, curious to get Nyreen's take on the man, despite her own growing disdain for him. "Aria doesn't seem to have many kind things to say about him."

"Why should she? He's the one who ousted her. But he is an adversary worthy of respect," Nyreen conceded, willing to be more objective. "And not just because he's shrewd. When I started to organize the Talons, he offered amnesty to anyone who set down their weapon. A few of my people surrendered, and he made good on his word."

So despite being a master manipulator who could give Aria a run for her money, taking away peoples' freedoms in the name of establishing order, and indirectly threatening Garrus by revealing his alter ego, he was still capable of showing mercy. Maybe the Illusive Man hadn't ordered Petrovsky implanted. He wouldn't have been able to retain any ounce of humanity otherwise.

"So he has a code?" Shepard asked, not bothering to hide the shock in her voice. He certainly had a more faceted personality than she had pegged.

"And near as I can tell, it doesn't nearly match the Illusive Man's."

That was the understatement of the century.

"Still, he's kept the civilians pinned up like animals and ordered the construction of those forcefields that disintegrates people upon contact," Shepard reasoned, not wanting to give him a pass. He was still a member of Cerberus, an enemy who wanted her captured, possibly dead, and willingly encouraged the gangs to kill Garrus. "Is there anything you know about those forcefields that might be of help?"

Nyreen shook her head. "The technology comes from beyond the Omega-4 relay. Beyond that, there's nothing more I can tell you. The power required must be enormous, though. I fear that disrupting it can destabilize other systems on the station. We'll have to be careful when we reach the main reactor."

Shepard was surprised anything could have been salvageable after destroying the base. Did that mean they had managed to salvage anything of the Reaper prototype?

Things to file away for later.

"I won't let any civilians be compromised, that I can promise."

Nyreen tilted her head, as if taking Shepard in for the first time. "They weren't exaggerating, then. About your reputation being the paragon of the galaxy. It's nice to see around here."

"I've never been an "ends justify the means" kind of person."

"You would have fit in well with the turian military, Shepard." Her face then darkened, eyes glazing over as she lost herself in a memory. "Most of the time, anyway."

Was she alluding to the mission on the freighter?

She craned her neck back to see if she could spot Garrus. He was still at work at the weapons bench, though she couldn't see from this position which rifle he was checking.

"I have to ask. The history between you and Garrus." Nyreen's mandibles flared, but she made no effort to stop Shepard from continuing. "I'd like to hear your side. He told me about the mission to take down Targaris."

"That wasn't the objective to begin with, but he and our XO made it that way." Nyreen's eyes shut then for a brief second. "The hostages could have been saved, Commander, that's the worst part. If he had been there to provide me cover, I could have had the door unlocked. Targaris's death was certainly not something to be glossed over, but it really got me no one seemed to genuinely care about those innocent people, especially Vakarian. One of my darker days in the military. Almost quit right then and there."

"So ever since then you've hated him?"

"I'll admit. My dislike for him over the years never diminished nor did I have any respect for him, but hated him? Maybe at the time I did, but not now, despite the exchanges you saw between us." Her voice then lowered. "Did you know? That he was Archangel?"

"I helped him take down the gangs." No point in lying now. "Those scars he has were from the Blue Suns leader shooting a gunship rocket at his face."

Her metallic yellow eyes widened. "Amazing he survived that, but he was always tough." The concern must have shown on Shepard's face as Nyreen automatically added, "Don't worry, Commander. The Talons won't be a problem. Like I said, they serve with integrity now. And anyone who feels otherwise will be reminded what he or she is supposed to be fighting for."

Shepard expressed her thanks at the offer of support, positive now she had heard Nyreen berate one of her own.

Nyreen stared past Shepard, presumably at the speck that was Garrus. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be him, even when I began hearing talk Archangel was a turian. I should dislike his violent approaches to ridding Omega of its criminals, but I heard so many stories of the lives he saved. When people talked about him, I saw hope literally shining on their faces. That doesn't happen in a place like Omega. The type of selflessness he exhibited...it's hard to come by."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing that from you," Shepard said, forcing her voice to stay steady and not betray her emotions.

"You mean since you got into that heated argument?"

Shepard didn't reply. What else could be said?

Nyreen scooted closer to Shepard, voice just as quiet as a moment before. "Look, Commander, what the two of you do in your personal life doesn't matter to me." At Shepard's deer in the headlights expression on her face, Nyreen replied, "I had my fair share of spats with Aria to know what a fight between two lovers looks like."

"So you heard...?" Shepard asked, unease growing at how much Nyreen could have heard.

"I heard enough. But it's not my place to pry beyond that. All I'd say is don't leave things unresolved between you two for too long. Wounds fester more easily that way." Her eyes shifted away from Shepard, drifting up to the asari studying the holo-image of Omega intently.

Looking at Nyreen, with such a polar opposite personality from Aria, it was hard to imagine she had become involved with her.

"So, if you don't mind my asking," Shepard began. "How did you get mixed up with Aria?"

Nyreen showed no sign of reluctance at the question. "Despite the Targaris incident, I was happy enough in the turian military. But when my biotic abilities started to manifest about twelve years ago, my superiors saw fit to reallocate me," she said, a biotic aura flaring in her hand.

"Garrus mentioned something about you being a Cabal. Was that the unit you were reassigned to?"

The aqua flare disappeared from Nyreen's talons. "Turian biotics are extremely rare, with only a small percentage gaining abilities after element-zero exposure. The military developed special units for them, which usually comprise of ten to fifteen people under a commanding officer. They're typically deployed as covert shock troopers, saboteurs, and in the case of the Unification Wars, as observers and assassins. That instance led to a societal backlash against Cabal units and turian biotics in general and as a result, the Hierarchy keep the Cabals completely separate from other branches of the military. Even those with non-combat biotic skills are literally forced into the Cabals.

"Once there, they practically locked me away. I couldn't use my skills to benefit my people. So I quit."

"Didn't you come from a prominent military family?" Shepard asked as she crossed her arms.

"Like I said before, it wasn't an easy decision," Nyreen said, her undertone harsher. "I knew exactly what it would mean for my family's reputation and my own standing, but I saw no other option. So I floated around the galaxy for about two years, serving as a freelancer, looking for a new purpose."

"And you found your way here?" Shepard asked incredulously, wondering how someone with Nyreen's personality could end up in one of the hearts of criminality in the galaxy.

"More like I lost my way here," Nyreen said, heaving a sigh. Then her face slightly lit up. "But then there was this beautiful, fierce creature, who didn't let anyone define her. I'll admit, I was mesmerized. I wanted a little bit of that to rub off on me."

"How close were you two?" Shepard asked, Aria's earlier words at the front of her mind: _"It was a long time ago, but Nyreen's the type that doesn't forget."_

"The draw was undeniable. Her strengths mirrored my insecurities. Maybe deep down, it was the same for her. But trying to be with her turned into trying to be her. Nyreen Kandros was vanishing."

"You seem like your own person to me," Shepard observed.

"For all the drama between us, I am grateful to Aria. She helped me remember who I am. It took a lot to break away from her. But I regret nothing."

An explosion from outside the room, possibly in the hangar, sent a shockwave through the room. One of the asaris at the door yelled for the other to continue holding the barrier at all costs.

The explosion tore Aria away from the interface and towards the med-bay.

Looked like their alone time was up.

"What happened out there?" Shepard asked when Aria reached them.

"Cerberus setting off explosives at the hangar door," Aria said, sounding completely unconcerned. "Luckily for us, it will take a few more rounds for them to break through those doors. Are you both done with your heart-to-heart and ready to head out?" Aria asked, looking like she was itching to get this phase of the plan over with.

"Garrus will be coming shortly," Shepard replied.

"Leave him. Time is of the essence, and I'm not wasting it due to someone who has become a liability."

Shepard was spared from issuing another defense at the sight of his approach, her rifle in hand.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Garrus handed Shepard her Widow. "Shouldn't sound as bad now."

She graced him with a cautious smile in thanks.

Aria glowered at him, but thankfully all she uttered was, "Let's just move out," practically hissing the words.

As the guards unlocked the door and allowed Aria entrance through first, Nyreen murmured to Garrus, "She's seems to really hate you. What exactly did you do to get on her bad side, Vakarian?"

He hesitated for a brief moment, as if wondering how much he should or wanted to say.

He then settled on replying, "I once planned on breaking the one rule on Omega," leaving Nyreen to fill in the blanks.

* * *

The entrance to the processing plant wasn't too far from Aria's bunker. To avoid being easy targets on the street the entire way there (by Cerberus or by vengeful mercs), Aria took them through another of her secret passages, letting Shepard breathe a little easier.

"Alright. We're about to enter the street. Be on your guard," Aria warned them, climbing up the ladder. When she reached the top, she gave the all clear and the others followed her up.

As soon as Shepard reached the surface, she immediately felt ill at ease. The area around them felt too constricting, yet there were still too many spots for people to hide, too many locked doors for people to spring out from.

Shepard shook her head. She was becoming just as suspicious as Aria.

"The elevator to the processing plant isn't too far now." Aria took the chance to pass over their surroundings. "Strange. I truly thought the other merc groups would try to attack us on our way here."

While everyone faced forward, Shepard looked behind them, affording her a view of the red hot laser painted on the back of Garrus's head. She slammed right into him, pulling him down onto the ground in time for the bullet to pass harmlessly over him and buzz through the air.

"Sniper!"

Aria threw a biotic flare in the direction of the shot, causing the person to fall to the ground with a startled cry and a dying groan.

"We have to get to the processing plant now. There are probably more where that came from!" Aria said, darting down the street.

Shepard hoisted herself up, pulling Garrus up as he got his bearings back. All three wasted no time in following Aria. She only stopped when she saw the way before them was blocked by piles of crates.

"It had to be just the one out on patrol. There's no way they could have mobilized that fast. They don't have our strength or numbers."

Aria's eyes narrowed at Nyreen's statement. "Unless they had help. And if I find out it's one of my own..." Aria broke off with a frustrated growl. "Nyreen, help me lift these crates."

As Aria and Nyreen set to work lifting the crates away from the door with their biotics, Shepard unholstered her pistol out, taking note of their darkly-lit surroundings. That merc couldn't have been the only one.

It didn't take them long to clear the way enough they could pass through. A locked door stood in the distance, beckoning them forward.

"That's the elevator door right there. We just need..."

Figures jumped from the shadows, sprinting towards them, shouting they had found their targets. Aria was able to throw a biotic lash at one of them, Shepard and Nyreen fired a few shots, and Garrus sent a concussive shot to another, but soon they were faced with thirty-four people pointing their rifles directly at them, forming an impenetrable circle of bodies around the four, leaving no room to maneuver or fire back without getting shot multiple times in the process.

As they ganged up around them, Shepard took note of their uniforms, all etched with three distinct insignias. A skull, a solar eclipse crossed with an "E", and a white sun on a blue patch.

All three of the formerly most influential gangs on Omega, allied again under a common cause.


	7. -7-

A/N: Profuse thanks again to all those who have reviewed, favorited or are following this story. Thank you all so much :).

* * *

-7-

"Drop your weapons!"

No one made any move to do so, still clutching their guns like they were glued to their hands.

"Why should we do that? Do any of you honestly think you can try and attack me and make it out alive?" Aria demanded, a biotic glow in her hands flaring. Shepard did not fail to notice the use of the word "me" and not "us." Nor how some in front of her shifted at Aria's threat.

"Because we're not planning to kill you. We're taking you all in alive." Another voice spoke out from the crowd, pushing his way forward, through the ring formed around the four of them.

The man was wearing a helmet with the large glowing holes for eyes that looked eerily similar to a husk, so she couldn't identify him by his face, but his voice sounded oddly familiar to Shepard. Though she couldn't properly place it, as the filters in the helmet sounded like they were partly damaged and distorted his voice. Upon closer glance, Shepard swore she saw a different insignia than the three others on the collar of his armor. Some type of bird, perhaps?

He paused in front of them, spending a lot of time staring at Shepard in particular. "For the moment."

"We don't have many other options," Nyreen said pointedly to Aria.

Aria's eyes narrowed, grimacing like she had a vile taste in her mouth. "I suppose not." She then directed her attention to the man. "I want to speak to your leader when we get there, assuming you are all actually united under one banner." She didn't bother to hide the skepticism from her tone.

"What about Archangel? The General said we were free to off him," a female human spoke nearby, pointing her gun specifically at Garrus.

Before Shepard realized what she was doing, her omni-blade came flying from her wrist within the span of a few seconds, raising it like a fencing sword at the merc's chest. She immediately backed down, giving an audible gasp at the sight of the blade. If anyone else had been tempted, the sight of THE Commander Shepard brandishing her omni-blade would have given them second thoughts.

"Someone already tried. One of your snipers," Shepard said, deactivating the blade once she was satisfied no one would try to shoot at him.

"It should have been a concussive round only. A signal. If it wasn't...is he dead?" When Shepard nodded, he continued. "Then he escaped far worse."

Was he alluding to their leader?

"Enough. Let's just get this over with. Take us to your base."

Shepard couldn't have agreed more with Aria.

If the merc seemed bothered by Aria giving him orders, he didn't show it. He began ordering everyone to move out, directing a few to return to their scouting posts in case some Cerberus troopers or those mechs decided to ignore Petrovsky's temporary reprieve. Or even worse, depraved them of their captures.

"They should be tearing each other apart right now. That's how they were when Cerberus lured me away from Omega the first time," Aria murmured to them while the mercs were distracted. "They only united under my leadership."

"They already united once to take me down. Why wouldn't they do it again, especially in the state they're all in?" Garrus pointed out.

"But they still retained their separate organizations. They didn't form an entirely new group. It has to be one of them, either the Blue Suns, Eclipse or Blood Pack leader. Something had to have happened with the other two." As good a hypothesis as any, but who would all three gangs have possibly followed? Gangs weren't necessarily where one looked to find people who valued honor and loyalty.

The merc motioned them forward, all the while Shepard trying to remember where she had heard that voice before.

* * *

When the merc base's entrance came into view, Shepard felt nothing but dread creep into the pit of her stomach at seeing it again. This base held nothing but ghosts and bad memories. Nor did she want to risk Garrus being tempted to don the mantel again.

Shepard had continually looked over at Garrus on the way, trying to gauge how he was handling all of this. By the embers sparking in his eyes, not well. Especially when he saw where they were leading them.

"Someone obviously has a twisted sense of humor," he muttered dryly into her ear so only she could hear.

It was probably someone's idea in a fit of irony to repurpose Garrus's old base for the mercs' own headquarters. Or it just could have been a matter of practicality. For what Shepard had seen of it before, the base was well-fortified, with all the necessary equipment and hangars. Also out of the way of prying eyes, located in a more remote part of the station. She wisely decided against telling Garrus that.

They passed through one of the hangars, where technicians were furiously working on repairs for a sky-car and two gunships, omni-tools, regular wrenches, power inverters and other miscellaneous plugs and cords were out in full force or splayed across the floor. Though they appeared inoperable, it was amazing they still had access to this type of equipment. Even more astonishing was the number of people streaming throughout the base, especially on the lower level. None of them were wandering around aimlessly. All had been given their assignments, their designated tasks. The same was true of those of the ground level, where no could be seen lounging around on the couches.

"There shouldn't be this many of them. The Adjutants and Cerberus supposedly tore them apart after Aria left," Nyreen murmured to her.

The merc directed them up to the door that led to the former barracks and common area, where Shepard first laid eyes on Garrus a year ago, plopped down on a pile of crates trying to get his second wind back after being under siege for a day, hopped up on stims. Despite how exhausted he had seemed, Shepard couldn't have been happier to see him. Waking up like she had, trying to come to terms with her death, with all those unfamiliar people surrounding her outside Chakwas and Joker, with Tali unable to come along, it had been a huge relief to see him again. Know that she had someone she completely trusted at her six while out on missions.

The area had been transformed into a command center, with a holo-graphic interface in the middle, the couches pushed to the end of the room and the bunks disposed of, stockpiles of mods and ammo in the corner.

She tried not to look across the floor, where she swore she saw the faded blood stains of a turian who had been struck by a gunship rocket and would have lost his life if she hadn't been there.

"I want two teams covering the bridge in shifts every four hours."

Shepard instantly identified the gravelly sounding and slightly muffled voice only a batarian was capable of producing before she even saw him. Must have been a former Blue Sun. Or was he still one?

"Sir, Cerberus has offered us amnesty and the Adjutants are contained. Surely..."

The batarian's head shot up and even from a distance, Shepard could see the dangerous glint in his four beady eyes.

"I just ordered you to maintain a perimeter. Or are you questioning my authority?"

"N...no, sir. Right away." The salarian practically tripped over himself to get away, bumping into Shepard's shoulder on the way out.

"Sir, we've captured Aria T'Loak, Commander Shepard, Archangel, and the Talon leader, as planned," the human leading them in announced.

"Captured would be a strong word," Aria said, scoffing with crossed arms.

The batarian gave a low, dry chuckle. "Still can't admit defeat, Aria?"

"You're one to talk, Zuhayr. You were your brother's prisoner for...how many years was it? Ten?"

"Ten years, six months, twenty-two days. You count every one of them when you're locked in a windowless bunker twenty-one hours out of the day."

Shepard took in this exchange, trying to determine whether or not it was a good or bad thing that they seemed to know each other.

The batarian pulled away from his holopad, stepping closer into the orangish light shining in from the outside, the scars criss-crossing the left side of his face like railroad tracks plainly visible for all to see, showing off the lighter, squishier skin beneath the harder, darker exterior. Something Garrus and he had in common.

"You didn't take their weapons?" he asked the merc upon noticing the weaponry still strapped to them.

"They refused to relinquish them."

"We made it over here without incident," Aria stated. "Surely you can make an exception?"

"And surely you can understand my precaution. Come too far to be shot in the back now." The lines on the batarian's face shifted, a sinister look creeping into his eyes. "Or do we have to do this the hard way?"

A battle of wills seemed to go between Aria and Zuhayr, a staring contest that would not end, until finally Aria acknowledged his veiled request with a subtle shake of her head. She began unhooking her shotgun and pistol, handing them to the merc. Shepard reluctantly followed suit, as did the others. At least she had her omni-blade and powers via her omni-tool if things got heated.

"Leave us," the batarian named Zuhayr ordered to the nameless merc once all of their weapons had been taken.

The merc shot another glance at Shepard as he walked away and she felt the heat of his glare even through his helmet.

Who the hell was he?

"So what happens now? You keep us here until you're ready to hand us over to the General? Or did you bring us here for something else entirely?" Aria asked as the merc left the room.

"That depends on what happens in the next few minutes."

"The rest of us still don't know who you are," Shepard said, interrupting them. "Might be helpful if we're negotiating."

Nyreen interjected herself into the conversation. "He's the leader of the Blue Suns."

Zuhayr smirked at Nyreen. "Thought I heard word you became the Talons's new leader. Maybe you'll be more reasonable than Derius was."

"We're doing just fine on our own. I have no interest in bringing the Talons under your control," Nyreen retorted, her sub-harmonics echoing harshly. "Besides, what have you done to protect the people from Cerberus? What have you done to fight back?"

"Bid our time. Regained our full strength while you kept them occupied. Waited for the right opportunity to present itself," Zuhayr stated, batting away the criticism like it was an annoying fly hovering around his head.

Aria began to pace, clearly not wanting to stay motionless any longer. "So Sanine and Warth are dead, then?"

Zuhayr nodded. "Adjutants finished them off shortly after you fled, left Eclipse and Blood Pack completely leaderless. With numbers crippled between the gangs and no one willing to take charge of the other two, I stepped in, combined our forces. You may have noticed the new uniforms."

Shepard crossed her own arms, eyebrow raising. "No one else wanted to take charge of a merc gang? No one wanted to maintain their identity to their own gang?"

"No one strong enough or with the brains to sustain long-term success, if you wish me to clarify, Commander. As for the unification of the gangs, all our bitter disputes and territory wars weakened us in the long run, left us unable to fight Cerberus rule. Combining our forces was the logical choice. Not many chose to oppose the decision." He didn't need to tell her what he had done to those who argued against unification.

"What made you think you'd be qualified?" Maybe she could keep him talking, while looking for weaknesses to exploit. Or use her excessive amounts of charisma to talk their way out of this. Forget the fact they'd have to fight their way out of a heavily-occupied base without access to weapons.

"After watching my brother run the Blue Suns into the ground and all his blunders dealing with Archangel...well, let's just say he gave me a good idea of what doesn't work."

Zuhayr might as well have punched her in the gut, for all the wind that revelation took out of her.

She looked over at Garrus, recognition flashing in his eyes, mandibles fluttering.

"You're Tarak's brother?" Shepard asked, stating the obvious.

"Was. Until he was killed in the operation to take down Archangel." He didn't really seem all that angry about it, possibly a good sign. If Tarak had locked his brother away like that, she couldn't have imagined he'd feel all that broken up about it.

"You were there, the night I broke into Tarak's home. You saw me and didn't say a thing," Garrus recalled.

"You were going to do me a favor."

"So you could take over the family business?" Garrus dared to ask.

"Not at first. Had to take care of a couple of people who thought they could take control first."

"How exactly did you manage that?" Shepard asked, suspecting the answer.

"By allowing them to destroy each other. Between the infighting, the fighting with the other gangs, and Cerberus, it was only a matter of time." The deadly spark in his eyes returned. "I'm quite good at waiting. Did it for ten years."

As filled with blood-lust as Tarak had been, Zuhayr unnerved her. Tarak had been nothing more than a thug with a fancy gunship. Conniving, willing to think outside the box, ruthless, and desperate to get rid of Garrus, yes. But there was something about his brother. There was an instability there, like he could be seconds away from a bloody rampage within the blink of an eye. The kind of instability cultivated from being locked away from the world, climbing the walls of a windowless room.

"I'm a busy woman, Zuhayr. I have a revolution to lead. Are we going to talk terms?" Aria asked impatiently.

"Not just yet. There's one thing that needs to be dealt with." He unholstered his pistol from his side, holding it firmly in his grip. Shepard's eyes widened, realizing what he was going to do.

"This isn't personal, Archangel. I actually owe you for taking care of my brother. But the others aren't so forgiving. Your death will ensure their loyalty to me and me alone. I think they'll enjoy seeing your corpse hung up like a trophy." He raised his gun, pointing it at Garrus's unprotected head, a malicious smirk on his lips. "Probably should have killed me when you had the chance."

Without hesitation, Shepard stepped in front of Garrus, arms extended from her sides in a vain attempt to shield him. She could feel Garrus's eyes boring into her back at her protective gesture.

Their kingdom may have been fractured, but she would not allow any outside forces to threaten it.

Zuhayr frowned, but lowered his gun back down to his side for the moment. "I really don't want to kill you too, Commander."

"I guess you're going to have to." Shepard swore he heard Garrus's breath hitch behind her, murmur her name, a plea hidden within the call of her name.

Zuhayr raised his gun again. "If you insist..."

Shepard prepared to release her omni-blade again, spring on him before he had a chance to react, all the while ignoring the little voice in her head that told her she'd be shot mid-jump, but she was spared from doing so when Aria stepped in front of Zuhayr's line of fire.

"We need her to take down Cerberus. Or have you forgotten about the creatures they set on you and the others? What Cerberus did to the gangs?" Her voice lowered. "Or that I backed your little coup?"

Zuhayr did lower his gun, albeit slightly. "I haven't forgotten any of that. And I don't trust Cerberus. But they did offer quite a deal. What can you put down?"

Shepard's eyes stayed glued to Aria. When their eyes finally met, Shepard shook her head, reaffirming her stance Garrus was off the table.

"I convinced you once to join my cause. I'm sure we can work something out."

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief when Zuhayr holstered his gun again, motioning for people outside to come back in.

"Keep these three under guard until I've finished here. Take them down to the alcove and lock them in," he ordered the human merc from before.

The merc nodded, clenching his hand in a vice grip around Shepard's arm, pulling her away and through the door.

"I'm perfectly capable of walking myself," Shepard ground out, trying to wrench her arm from his grip, but he kept a sturdy hold.

"No matter how this plays out, I still won't forget. I'll come for you myself," he whispered harshly, the hatred palpable in his voice.

Not another unstable soldier. As Joker would have said, the base could only hold so much crazy.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

The merc didn't answer her, continuing to drag her to a room off the main common area on the ground floor, pushing her in with a not-so-gentle shove. Shepard fell towards the ground, but was able to break her fall with her left palm, wincing as the contact with the floor smacked her hand and her knees

"Keep this door locked until ordered otherwise," he barked to the others as they led Garrus and Nyreen into the room.

"Wait. You didn't answer me. What did you mean? Who are you?" Shepard demanded as she picked herself up off the floor.

The merc turned to her, motioning for the other two to wait outside. He stepped further into the room, closing the distance between him and Shepard. "Have you forgotten already, Shepard? I haven't. The screams never stopped. You said they would." Even with the helmet's distortion, she could hear the anguish in his voice. An anguish she had uttered from another man, a broken man tortured by Cerberus, three years ago...

_"Don't tell me who I am! You got out with a few scratches and a scary reputation. The rest of the unit died and I was tortured for years, Shepard! You can't judge me; you don't have the right!"_

"Toombs..." Shepard breathed. How did the hell did he end up on Omega under Zuhayr's command? Wasn't he running his own merc band? And if Zuhayr was even entertaining accepting Cerberus's deal, why wasn't Toombs going after him instead of threatening her?

Questions she wouldn't be able to ask him, as he had already walked away from her and out the door, locking it securely behind him.


	8. -8-

A/N: Greetings, my dear readers. Thanks again to all who have reviewed, favorited, or are following this story!

* * *

-8-

Time seemed to crawl at a snail's pace. It felt like they were in that room for hours, when it couldn't have been more than a half-hour. With no clocks around, it was difficult to tell. Shepard could have gone by shifts in natural sunlight, something she had picked up during her childhood days out farming on Mindoir, but that obviously didn't exist on Omega.

They could have tried to escape, but after discovering the door was locked down tight, their only option would have been the long window that spanned the length of the small room. But breaking it would have been like an alarm bell to all the mercs out there. And they would have had nowhere to go except chance a long drop or climb up on the roof, which probably had mercs on it and again would have left them with no place to go.

So there they remained. Nyreen stood by the window, staring out at the haze and the buildings across the way through the blinds. Garrus and Shepard were leaning against the wall across from her. Though they were next to each other, Shepard hadn't made intentional eye contact with Garrus the whole time, finding a black spot on the floor more interesting to look at while switching between grinding her teeth and chewing on her lip, nervous ticks she had developed as a teenager.

Shepard felt like she was a prisoner on death row, just waiting for someone to escort her to the executioner's noose. How much longer could this possibly take? Either they were free or they weren't. Even though her entire military career had become revolved around the unknown, Shepard hated dealing with uncertainties. Made it harder to properly plan that way.

Shepard suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her from across the way.

"Assuming we get out of here, is that merc going to cause problems?" Nyreen asked, breaking the almost stifling silence that had settled in around them.

A question Shepard had been asking herself since they were thrown in there.

"I don't know. Hopefully he's still got some sense left in him." Shepard really didn't want to have to do anything to him. A merc or not, he had been one of her team once.

"I thought you sent him to get psychiatric help three years ago," Garrus remarked. She had brought Garrus along on that mission, one of their earlier ones in their pursuit of Saren. They had only known each for two weeks and still he spoke out in such passionate defense of Shepard, when that Cerberus scientist called her out for believing Toombs's story without proper evidence. Evidence she was sure had been buried at all costs long ago.

"I did. I knew he had gotten out, formed his own merc gang, but I haven't heard anything more from him since he sent a message to me a year ago. Never actually expected to meet up with him again, especially not here." It had left a bad taste in her mouth, Toombs thinking she willingly joined with Cerberus, but she didn't know what she could have done to convince him through message alone. So she never replied.

Might have been worth the effort.

"Did he sound just as hostile?" Nyreen questioned.

"Pretty much, yeah. But I eventually got swept up in other things and forgot about it."

Garrus tilted his head at her and crossed his arms, capturing her gaze with his laser-focused one, the same he wore when scoping down a target. "So you were keeping that information to yourself? As you always do?"

Shepard frowned, brow furrowing as she cast Garrus an irritated glance. "I wasn't aware I had to share all of my correspondence with you, Vakarian."

"Just the ones where someone threatens to harm you, that'd be nice to know about."

Shepard hated this. This wasn't supposed to be how they were with each other, fighting at every little thing. They should be making sarcastic remarks to each other to lighten the mood or reassurances they would watch each other's backs, not jumping at each other's throats like this. Omega was bringing out the worst of both of them, it seemed, and Shepard wanted nothing more than to be done with this and get back onto the Normandy, before their relationship suffered even more because of it.

"Do you think Aria can reach a deal?" Shepard asked Nyreen, changing the subject before another argument broke out between Garrus and Shepard with Nyreen as a captive audience.

Thankfully, Nyreen chose to pretend that moment between Garrus and Shepard didn't happen. She couldn't have been more grateful to Nyreen. "She did last time, but who knows with Zuhayr."

"What exactly do you know about him? You knew he was the leader of the Blue Suns."

Nyreen shifted slightly from her position, the orangish glow seeping through the blinds illuminating her figure. "Honestly not much. We hadn't heard any word about him since Cerberus imposed martial law. I knew he was Tarak's brother, he had been his brother's captive, and he staged a coup within the Blue Suns and assumed leadership. That's about it for personal details."

"Zuhayr said something about trying to convince the Talons to join him?"

"During the first resistance against Cerberus, before Derius was killed. Always thought it was just an alliance, but maybe Derius sensed this was Zuhayr's ultimate plan and didn't want to chance anything. Not it really mattered. He didn't last too long to reap the benefits of retaining his authority."

"I knew Tarak had a brother, heard rumors about him, but except for the night I broke into Tarak's home, I never saw him," Garrus added, calmer. "Didn't think he'd be much trouble."

"Honestly think we'd have been better off dealing with Tarak," Nyreen admitted.

Garrus looked at her, disbelief clearly on his face. "Considering how much he wanted me dead, I don't see how he would have been better."

"That's the point." At Garrus's puzzled expression, she continued. "You knew exactly where you stood with Tarak, didn't you? Even when he joined forces with the other mercs?"

"Yeah. It didn't seem like he made any secret of the fact he only teamed up with the other two out of desperation," Shepard conceded.

"No one knows when Zuhayr counts someone an enemy or an ally. That coup Aria backed? I don't know the details, but I do know he played off both factions within the Blue Suns vying for control. He'd completely convinced everyone he supported one faction, led by some human. Kirkinson, I think his name was. One day, both factions got in a firefight. And he betrayed them for the other, shot Kirkinson when his back was turned. The rival faction took charge for a little while until Zuhayr finally assumed control over them."

"But the other faction couldn't have believed his actions were sincere? They had to have known he would betray them too eventually?"

"He must have convinced them the betrayal was his plan all along, because as far as I know, no moves were made against him on that faction's part. Allowing him to strike first," Nyreen replied to Shepard's questions.

Just as Shepard had suspected. They weren't dealing with an ordinary merc. "So he's a consummate liar, then?"

"Which is why we should stay on our guard even if Aria appears to convince him to let us go. We can't put anything past him," Nyreen emphasized.

"Been doing that since the moment we landed on Omega, Kandros."

"A smart move, given your record, Vakarian," Nyreen acknowledged, her words lacking any of the bite or accusatory nature from earlier in the night.

Shepard had started to chew on her lip while Garrus and Nyreen spoke, only stopping when she tasted copper in her mouth. She really had to stop that nervous tick before she chewed through her skin. "Do you have any idea why Aria backed him over the others?"

Nyreen shrugged. "Can't say for sure, but I know when Aria left the station the first time around, the major gangs were more focused on filling the power vacuum she left rather than watching out for Cerberus. Even once Cerberus took control and Aria came back, not everyone was on board with uniting under Aria's leadership. Zuhayr must have been willing or convinced to by Aria."

Shepard suddenly realized that from all the times she talked to Aria, she never really found out the whole story behind how Aria lost Omega in the first place, other than Cerberus moving in and taking control.

"I remember Aria saying something about the Illusive Man intently realizing those Adjutants to distract her. What exactly happened? How did Aria lose this station to Cerberus?"

Nyreen refrained from answering immediately, as if debating how much to say. "It's not my story to tell. Besides, I only know bits and pieces. If you're really curious and want the full story, you could try asking her. Don't know how well that would go over, though."

"Don't antagonize her anymore than you already have," Garrus advised Shepard, leaving the unspoken words, _on my behalf_, hanging in the air. Like Garrus really had any room to talk about not getting under Aria's skin.

"If I'm supposed to be her partner, then I deserve the truth."

"She doesn't trust many with the truth, Shepard. Tread carefully," Nyreen warned.

As if on cue, the door sprang open and Aria strolled in without any armed escort, victory in her step.

_Speak of the devil..._

"Took you long enough, Aria," Nyreen greeted, approaching her. "Was starting to wonder..."

"Whether I would be able to sway him?" Aria asked with dark amusement. "I'm surprised at your lack of faith, Nyreen,"

"Zuhayr's a different entity entirely," Nyreen said, still sounding uncertain. Good to know she was just as uneasy about all this as Shepard.

Instead of answering Nyreen, Aria motioned the trio to follow her out the door.

A few mercs nearby gave them looks, but didn't say anything to them. Shepard saw no sign of Toombs standing by the door, though she couldn't be completely sure as many of the mercs had their helmets on.

Zuhayr was waiting for them at the exit to the base, talking to one of his mercs, giving him detailed orders on the preparations needed to be done before the fight began. Once the merc rushed off to do Zuhayr's bidding, his attention turned to them.

"You've retrieved them all, I see." Zuhayr kept his gaze locked on Garrus longer than Shepard would have liked, but didn't make a grab for his pistol and shoot him on sight. Had Aria actually convinced Zuhayr to halt his attempts to kill Garrus? Almost seemed too good to be true. "Sure just the four of you can handle going to that reactor?"

"Drop the act of concern, Zuhayr," Aria replied, sending a sneer his way. "If there wasn't this deal between us, you wouldn't give two shits about what happened to me."

"So you assume."

"I never assume anything, but we've wasted more than enough time talking. Just have your people ready to go to meet us at the arranged point once the force fields come offline."

"They'll be ready. I'll see to that," Zuhayr replied, icily calm, though Shepard could sense his displeasure at being told how to run his operation. Something Aria and Zuhayr had in common.

Shepard couldn't have been happier to leave the base and Zuhayr's merc gang, but she still saw no sign of Toombs as they left the base, leaving her no chance to try and talk to him, ask him what had happened to him since they last saw each other on Ontarom, convince him she was not his enemy before he did something completely reckless and harmful.

And she honestly didn't know whether to be relieved or not.

* * *

Aria shared the terms of the agreement she made with Zuhayr on the way. In exchange for his help taking back Omega and his vow to enforce her rule as _de-facto _leader by any means necessary, he would be given a substantial amount of territory to control, access to a selection of Aria's personal storage of weaponry and resources, as well as Aria's backing if there were ever anymore power struggles or coups against him. Ensuring he would assume the role as the most powerful merc leader outside of Aria.

Quite generous by Aria's standards.

"That territory wouldn't happen to include Talon territory, would it, Aria?" Nyreen demanded, suspicion in her tone.

"No, but don't be surprised if Zuhayr starts hollering at your door, Nyreen." At the frown creeping onto Nyreen's face, Aria said, "There's only so much I could push for. Hard enough to get him to agree to drop his pursual of Archangel," she said, shooting daggers back at Garrus.

"I'm almost touched that you even bothered," Garrus replied, words dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't think it has anything to do with you."

"How exactly did you convince Zuhayr?" Shepard asked. "He seemed pretty determined." Despite Aria's confidence, Shepard didn't trust that this was the end of the battle with the mercs, especially in regards to Garrus. Nor with Toombs.

"Reminders of the past and veiled threats. Don't concern yourself, Shepard. All you need to know is that he wasn't a bargaining chip, just as you wanted."

With the elevator door now in sight, Shepard knew she wouldn't get anymore out of Aria. "I appreciate it, Aria," she settled for saying.

While Aria and Nyreen worked on unlocking the elevator, Shepard and Garrus stayed back, flanking them to avoid an ambush like last time.

Shepard kept her pistol raised, eyes narrowing in on the dark corners of the area again, ears perking at sudden noises. They weren't going to be caught off guard again.

"I wouldn't have let you." Garrus's voice rumbled out of nowhere like a thunder clap after the flash of a lightning bolt.

"Not let me do what?" she asked cautiously, though she had an idea of what he meant.

"Get shot along with me," he replied just as seriously.

Shepard gripped the handle of her gun tighter. "And how would you have stopped me?" she asked, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"I would have pushed you out of the way. You're worth more than that." His sub-flang warbled with a distraught note, barely detectable if she didn't know him well.

"And you're not?" Shepard demanded, quelling the growing butterflies in her stomach at where the conversation was going. "I thought I told you not to play hero, to watch yourself."

"And I thought you agreed you would do the same," Garrus argued, like she had forgotten, needed to be reminded.

She hadn't. She remembered that promise all too well, when Garrus stayed with her after the encounter with the Leviathan. Entwined together on her bed in a jumble of limbs, their bodies crushed together as close as they could be, they swore they would try to stay safe for the other, to come back alive.

"Well since you were breaking your promise, I had all the grounds to break mine." She shifted her gaze away from his piercing one. "Besides, I thought you made it pretty clear earlier where things stood."

She was being unfair and she knew it, putting words in his mouth like that. Nor was this the time to become a drama queen, forcing her mate to go through loop after loop to prove how sorry he was. But she couldn't help it. There was tension between them that still hadn't gone away and she didn't like how it made her feel.

Now more than ever, she craved his touch. His arms wrapped tightly around her like a sturdy cocoon, the feel of his coarse mouth plates on her lips, her face, anywhere he could reach. She needed to feel like things were normal between them again.

"I didn't mean it. Coming here was my choice, I know that. I should never..." His sub-harmonics had lost that frustrated, defensive edge, an anguished note ringing in its place.

He stepped closer to her, allowing her to take in his scent, a smoky mix of pinewood and metal from working with the rifles. Their bodies brushed against each other, his breath tickled the back of her neck. "You know I love you, Jane," he murmured reassuringly into her ear, his voice sending shivers down her spine.

He preferred to allow his actions to convey his feelings or saying it in other ways, same as her. It made the times he did say those words all the more meaningful, all the more true.

She chanced a look back up at him. When his steel-blue eyes met her darker ones, she knew by the wealth of emotion swirling within them that he was telling the truth. But it didn't stop the churning in her stomach, the pounding of her heart in her chest.

"I know," she finally managed to say. "But does Archangel?"

By the wide-eyed reaction on his face, she may as well have slapped him. But his answer was all too clear by the uncertainty she saw in his eyes.

"You weren't anything like Cerberus or Aria. You helped defend innocent people, be their voice. But how you killed all those criminals, tracked down Sidonis, beat Harkin to a pulp..."

Her eyes shut despite her best efforts not to show how emotional this made her. "I don't want you becoming him again, Garrus," she finally confessed. "I kept on telling Aria you wouldn't, but the longer we're here, the more I'm afraid you will."

"Door's open. Let's move," Aria called to them, preventing Garrus from answering.

Garrus looked like he wanted to say something again, but Shepard stopped him this time, laying her hand on his scarred plates, an affectionate gesture that had become commonplace for her.

"Just think on it, big guy," Shepard murmured to him, pulling her hand away and walking over to Aria, following her and Nyreen into the elevator, which lie in wait to transport them into the bowels of Omega.

* * *

A/N: Stay tuned for next chapter when the action gets under way again. Going to be a busy week for me so it will probably take a little longer with this next update, but I'll do my best. Let me know what you guys think of this latest chapter!


	9. -9-

A/N: Apologies for the delay! One busy week turned into two busy weeks, and writer's block certainly didn't help anything, but kicking myself into overdrive, I finished chapters for both this and Old, Unhappy, Far-Off Things, so yay!

As always, a shout-out to those who have favorited or are following this story. Also, a big thank you to all those who have reviewed and your kind words (especially to Danie-Dono; I'm touched beyond words that my work has inspired you to write again :) ). It truly does make my day to see all these notifications come in and keeps me motivated!

* * *

-9-

"We're arriving at one of the eezo processing plant," Aria informed them when the short elevator ride ended with a small jolt on its landing. "It's been powered down so we'll have to pry open the door."

"I'll handle it," Shepard volunteered, already approaching the doors. It would give her a chance to refocus on the mission, not spend so much time worrying about the gangs or Toombs. Or how sidetracked Garrus looked.

"Access to the mine should be on the far side," Aria continued while Shepard ran her hand over the chrome doors, searching for the slit in the middle.

"And the reactor's beyond that for?" Nyreen questioned.

"According to the schematic."

Shepard was now able to push the doors apart. Garrus stepped over and helped her by taking one door to keep them separate long enough for everyone to get through.

Aria went first, turning her head to respond to the cross look that had morphed onto Nyreen's face. "I ran Omega, Nyreen, I didn't work the mines myself."

Nyreen followed closely behind her. "No, you had indentured servants for that..." She didn't get too far onto the catwalk, stopping in her tracks like she had seen a spirit standing before her. "Spirits…"

Only when Shepard made it to Nyreen's side did she understand what had caused such a start.

Shepard had seen enough dead bodies in her military career, some more bearable than others to behold. She had seen bodies littered with bullets from head to toe, throats slit, missing arms or legs, blue lips from suffocation, and bodies so charred that no defining feature was left to distinguish them as the living person they had once been. And those were only a few notable examples.

Seeing these Cerberus troopers like they were now, sprawled on the platform, scratch marks all across their armor, bodies mangled so brutally with organs and limbs ripped from them, Shepard found herself hoping they had been long dead and taken their last breaths before they suffered such agonies.

The rising rotting smell of the corpses hit her like a punch to the face, bile rising in her throat. She'd rather smell refuse piles day in and day out than smell this for even one second longer. Shepard pushed the urge down, crouching to look more closely, covering her face with the back of her hand to block out the smell.

"Relax, Nyreen, they're all Cerberus," Aria said, like that fact somehow made everything better, that what killed the soldiers wouldn't attack them.

"They've been ripped to shreds," Shepard remarked, noting what looked like claw marks across the breastplate of one man's armor.

She stood up from her kneeled position, unhooking her pistol as she did so. She directed the others forward, with Nyreen murmuring behind her, the anxious ringing from her dual-fling having only increased. "I don't like this."

They cautiously made their way forward between the platforms, the pinpoint of light from the flashlights on their weapons the only real source of light around them. Nyreen's suspicion only seemed more justified when Shepard tripped on the platform, unable to break her fall and landing face first into a blood pool of another body. She jumped back to her feet, cringing as she wiped the blood from her cheek. His comrades lay grouped together around him, except for one slung over a railing like a piece of cloth, yet stayed in place and didn't risk toppling over to the cavernous, almost endless pit below them.

Garrus flashed his light over the dead figures. "More dead," he said, taking in the same types of marks and injuries that had been on the others.

"It's a bloodbath," Nyreen insisted, rifle slightly shaking in her hands, head whipping around every which way. "I got a bad feeling. We shouldn't be…"

Shepard heard the sound while Nyreen had been talking. A whispering noise. Almost like the cicadas that had been so active during the summer days in Rio de Janiero, where she had her N7 training. There was also a scuffling noise on metal alongside it.

"What's that sound?" Shepard interrupted them, raising her hand to silence them.

She waited for the others to listen to it too, make sure it wasn't her ears playing a terrible trick on her.

And was her imagination or did she just see something that jumped between the pipes? She flashed over the spot, but came up with nothing.

"It's an Adjutant. I'd recognize that sound anywhere," Aria finally replied, her fingers tightening on her shotgun, despite no sign of visible emotion on her face.

"Oh no. The General must have locked this place down to keep it inside."

Judging by the number of claw marks and wounds they had seen on the bodies, they were probably dealing with more than one, but Shepard refrained from saying that aloud.

"The elevator's just over there," Aria pointed down the way to a more open area. "But we need to power it up. We have to find the master circuit breaker."

They figured out they needed to follow the pipes. As they walked to the upper catwalks, Shepard noticed the whispering receding, not as strong as before. She said as much to her companions.

"Maybe the Adjutant doesn't like its odds."

Nyreen was not amused by Garrus's attempts to joke away the tension. "Don't kid yourself, Vakarian. I've seen those things take down a squad of soldiers."

Shepard carefully hopped over onto a nearby pipe. "I've seen you take down squads too. Why're you so disturbed by these Adjutants?"

"I know fighting Reapers is old-hat to you, Commander, but these…what they do to people…They don't just kill their victims like the ones here, they turn them into more of them. If they return in full strength like they did before, I don't even want to think about what would happen to Omega's people," Nyreen finished with a barely contained shudder.

They eventually hit a dead-end, but with a ladder down to the side, leading them to the master circuit breaker. Garrus took the initiative to turn the systems back on, punching the various flashing buttons on the console.

"When this is over, there'll be a lot of repairs to make," Aria said, noting with satisfaction as the plant flooded with light, leaving no dark corners for Adjutants to camouflage themselves in.

"I hope you'll focus on the civilian areas first."

Aria didn't even bother to hide the eye-roll or frustrated sigh. "You are relentless!"

Shepard didn't even hear Nyreen's reply. She was busy dodging what was speeding through the window head-on at her. She barely managed to roll away in time, showered with pieces of broken glass when the Adjutant stormed through, letting out a snarling bellow, lifting its arm cannon to fire away at its closest target.

"Spirits!" Nyreen cried out, frozen in place.

Shepard scrambled to her feet, flinging an incineration blast towards the Adjutant (even though it didn't seem like it did much of anything), with Garrus and Aria opening fire. Nyreen still hadn't moved, body locked in position, feet rooted to the floor.

"Nyreen! Snap out of it! Now!" Aria's yell finally brought Nyreen back out of her fear-induced daze, assault rifle locked on her target.

Despite its size and blue sac on its back that should have weighted it down, the Adjutant was surprisingly agile and liked getting up close to them, even with a long range arm cannon grafted into its body. Between the four of them, it didn't take long to kill it, but it certainly didn't go down without a fight, leaving Shepard a little breathless at having had to maneuver away from it so many times.

"Spirits, I hate those things!" Nyreen exclaimed, hands on her knees, leaning against a nearby wall column, trying to catch her own breath.

"Hate should make you deadlier. That looked like fear to me. It really is pathetic, Nyreen," Aria couldn't help but chastise. "I've seen you fight. I know you have more grit than that. Just look at you. You tense up just at the mere mention of those abominations."

Nyreen didn't shy away from Aria's judging gaze, but Shepard had become proficient in reading turian body language to know what the tightening of her plates and mandibles to her face meant.

"Lay off, Aria. That's not what she needs right now." She could feel Nyreen giving her an appreciative glance.

"I'm trying to help her, Shepard," Aria defended, annoyed at the interruption. "Call it tough love."

"That's one way to describe it." Garrus apparently couldn't resist the jab.

"You should learn to quit while you're ahead. Or even better, keep your damn mouth shut. And remember that you owe me."

Garrus titled his head, acknowledging the veiled warning. "No promises."

Shepard didn't have the energy to act like mediator, still feeling a little drained, instead insisting they head out to the elevator.

Aria took point up the ladder and scouted ahead, in case there were more that hadn't made themselves known yet.

"Was it just me or did that look kinda like one of those Scions? Haven't seen one of those in awhile."

Shepard let out a low groan at their mention, remembering how many times she had been shot with that element zero fueled cannon, the force toppling her to the ground.

"Don't jinx it, Garrus. We've got enough to deal with."

Garrus tagged behind Shepard on the ladder. "Yeah, now that the Reapers have put their husk-producing factory into overdrive. With all those mutated humans, mutated asari, mutate turians. Oh, and let's not forget the human-batarian, krogan-turian hybrids."

Shepard couldn't begin to express how good it made her feel to hear him make these sarcastic remarks, even the one to Aria. That felt more like Garrus. Still a far cry from their flirting on the battlefield, but she'd take it.

"And how is that helpful, Vakarian?"

"You know this is my coping mechanism, Kandros."

They trailed behind Aria, kicking it into high gear when Aria warned of another one ahead on the catwalk that had jumped from the rafters. "Die you piece of shit!" Aria shouted, firing her shotgun as they all reached the end of the pipe and landed back onto the catwalk.

"Another one on our left flank!" Garrus called, spotting another off to the side.

Shepard sent out her own warning. "And on our right!"

This wasn't anything new. They had been surrounded by mindless husks who liked getting into their personal spaces more times than Shepard could count.

Least that's what Shepard tried to tell herself, but the thought of being infected and transformed into one of them was not far from her mind.

Shepard blasted the one on the right with incinerate, then showering its blue sac with cryo ammo, watching it eventually freeze in place, exploding like glass shards across the catwalk when she pumped a few more rounds into it. Nyreen and Aria had teamed up to take out the one in front of them, with a mix of lift grenades and biotic flares, while Garrus tried releasing a concussive shot at the one on their left. It didn't knock the Adjutant off its feet, but the shot did cause it to stumble, allowing Garrus to barrage it with armor-piercing ammo. It let out one final bellow as it died.

"We've got to get to the elevator!" Aria pressed.

"We can't let them escape!" Nyreen insisted, though she sounded like she wanted nothing more than to hop on the elevator and leave immediately.

"We'll seal the doors behind us! We've got to move!"

They barely took a few steps before strong vibrations shook the platform and they were blasted off their feet onto the floor, dazed and unable to move. Too similar to when Shepard came up from the deep after her encounter with the Leviathan.

It was closest to Shepard, wasting no time in approaching her. She lifted herself up, trying to clear the black edges from her vision. The Adjutant roared at her, flinging its clawed hand down on her head and part of her cheek, slicing the skin and forcing her back down onto the floor, her omni-tooled arm crushed underneath her. She was too stunned to get herself back up in time. So were the others.

As its tentacle face neared her body, she could only hope she could kill herself before she turned. So no one else would have to.

So Garrus wouldn't have to.

The Adjutant's blue sac suddenly exploded and splattered her with the ooze. It screeched in pain, its venomous eyes searching out the one who shot him.

It didn't get far when bullets with an almost pale green glow that characterized armor-piercing ammo pelted it. By the time it fell beside her with a final grunt, Shepard had gotten her bearings back, able to get herself up. As had Aria, who helped Nyreen up. Garrus came up beside her, firing round after round into the Adjutant, even though it was clearly dead.

"I think you got it, Garrus," Shepard assured, while shaking off the goo and applying medi-gel to her face. A long and thorough shower was definitely in her future when they got back to the Normandy.

Garrus didn't stop right away. When he did, Shepard saw the remains of an intense fire that had built in his eyes. She knew that look. The same one when he had roughed Harkin up. The one he wore whenever he had talked about Sidonis.

"Can't be too sure with these things," Garrus said with a rough rumble.

Shepard frowned, one she was sure he saw, but she still thanked him for watching her back.

A few more Adjutants were waiting for them at the elevator, but no more got the jump on them, allowing them to pick them off one by one.

"I think that's all of them," Shepard said when the last one fell, scanning the area. She didn't hear any whispering noises either.

"Alright, into the elevator," Aria said, wasting no time in entering it.

Once they were all inside and the door closed behind them, Nyreen had her omni-tool out. "I'll seal the door, just in case."

Smart thing to do, considering.

Once she was done, Nyreen pressed the button on the console, jolting them upward.

"On to the mines." Aria noticed the growing pensive expression on Nyreen's face when she turned back around. "What's eating you?"

"Just processing. It's clear the General sealed that area to keep the Adjutants in."

"Along with the poor bastards trapped with them," Garrus added, still a little tense from earlier.

"How many knew about that little detail when they were assigned here?" Shepard wondered, knowing the answer. Cerberus seemed to like throwing their people into the fire without giving a damn about what happened to them as a result.

"Something's off. Adjutants typically don't just kill their enemies. They turn them into more Adjutants," Nyreen continued, troubled.

"You're just spooked," Aria dismissed automatically.

"There's a rhythm to this place, Aria. To Cerberus, the Adjutants," Nyreen argued. "If you'd stuck it out here, maybe you'd feel it too." Though it was faint, she couldn't keep the accusatory note in her lower-flang hidden.

Aria answered with a dark scowl and narrowed eyes, but she didn't get into it with Nyreen, instead lamenting over the state of the drills.

"Damn it, they shouldn't be straining like this. They'll burn out in a month!"

Cerberus was obviously trying to milk the resources of Omega bone dry as quickly as possible so they could take full advantage of them and ensure their hold on the resources. But that would hurt them in the long run, if they ran out and needed more. Quite unlike Cerberus to think only in the short-term.

Speaking of Cerberus, there was no shortage of them within the mine. Shepard fell into the pattern she had fallen into so many times on the battlefield with her Widow. Activate tactical cloak, scope down the target, fire, duck behind cover and pop the clip. Rinse and repeat. Methodical in execution, completely predictable, but it had served her well when she had had wave after wave of enemies coming at her. She noticed Garrus sticking close by, never too far from her, but not moving to shoot beside her.

Once the area of the lower level they were on seemed clear, Aria guided them through the labyrinth of platforms in the mine, to the upper-level where the elevator to the reactor was located. It only took fighting through another wave of Cerberus soldiers and balancing over a narrow strip that passed for a beam to get to it.

"Why are you grinning, Aria?" Nyreen asked when they hopped on the elevator. Aria was wearing an almost euphoric grin on her lips while wiping away the blood that had splattered onto her shotgun.

"We're almost there. When the force fields come down, this war _finally _begins." None of what they had done could be considered part of a war? What were the fights with the new mechs and breed of husk? Minor skirmishes? Were they placating a possibly unstable merc leader just for the hell of it?

"For some of us it started months ago," Nyreen pointed out as matter-of-factly as she could manage.

"That wasn't war. That was just warm-up."

Shepard hoped this wouldn't last too much longer. If this was all just warm-up, she'd hate to see what one of Aria's wars actually looked like.

The elevator ride was another short one, the reactor soon in plain sight and hard to miss, outputting electric currents which crackled above them. Shepard took in its impressive size as they walked across the catwalk.

They didn't get far before a dome similar to the make of the force fields encased the four of them, trapping them, so close to their goal.

"I commend you. Your plan of attack was impeccable." Shepard spun around, Predator pointed at the source of the voice, but she lowered it when she realized it was nothing more than a holo-image of Petrovsky, a solid orb twirling around the center of his chest.

"Looks like we were expected."

"More like lured," Nyreen muttered while searching around them for a possible point of escape.

Petrovsky folded his arms behind his back. "I knew the reactor would be the hard target. I gave you no choice but this route."

He truly had all his bases covered. "It's too bad you're on the Illusive Man's side, Petrovsky." Shepard didn't mean it whole-heartedly, not after he screamed to all of Omega Garrus's identity, all the trouble that caused. Could still cause.

The repulsion on his face was hard to miss. "I'm on humanity's side. You're the ones trying to start a war, for the glory of Aria." His eyes fell on Garrus, eyebrows rising. "I'm impressed by your tenacity, Officer Vakarian. Between the gangs and Aria, I'd imagine you've had a rough going."

"I've faced worse. And I believe I have you to thank for that," Garrus replied, crossing his arms.

"It's nothing personal." That statement again, as if that negated any action taken against Garrus. "Despite the brutality I saw done by your kind during the First Contact War, your abilities are to be commended. I can see why Commander Shepard values you. But we all must do what's necessary."

"Your plan backfired, Petrovsky. The gangs have rallied under my command again. My influence is just as strong as ever," Aria sneered.

Petrovsky didn't seem fazed by the news. "Their loss, if they stay true to their word. Even if they do, I fail to see what good that'll do you now. You're trapped down there. You can't break free without dissolving into ash. It's over, Aria."

"This isn't over until your next of kin can't identify you!" Aria all but snarled, smugness replaced by vehemence.

"I love your bravado, but have the sense to know when you're beaten. You've been neutralized and I can leave you there to rot. You might as well give up." Petrovsky should have known it would not be that easy. "Aria" and the words "give up" were rarely together in the same sentence.

"Never! I'm not going out like this!"

Aria stalked over to the shield, biotic energy sparking in her hands. Without warning, she touched the shield, trying to rip some of it apart.

_When was she able to do that?!_

"What the hell is she trying to do?" Carving them an escape hole, it seemed. "Damn it, Aria, you're forcing my hand. We'll do it your way, then."

The orb and his holo-image disappeared, an on-slot of mechs dropping in on them a second later.

"Keep them off us!" Nyreen set up her own biotic shield to cover Aria while she worked.

Garrus flung an overload at a mech closing in on them, ducking behind a crate before it exploded.

Shepard was able to sabotage one when part of its shields were drained, becoming a temporary ally and allowing her to dart under cover beside Garrus.

"Shepard! I've almost got it! Get to the control room!"

Garrus nodded for her to go.

"No heroics," Shepard reminded him, brushing her head against his, taking comfort in that brief touch. Their unspoken promise.

"Same for you," he replied just as firmly.

Aria had backed away to give Shepard enough room, but still grip onto the shield. Shepard took off at a running start, diving through the opening and rolling onto the platform.

"Spirits, Aria! How did you know you could do that?" Shepard's communicator crackled to life, Nyreen's voice echoing in her ear.

"I didn't."

A few mechs tried to slow Shepard's progress, but she activated tactical cloak to bypass them and then shoot them or stab them in the back with her omni-blade. Nyreen came back online, warning her there was no let up. Shepard quickened her pace up the platforms, sprinting up the steps two at a time, until she entered the control room for the reactor.

Shepard literally pounced onto the console when it was in her sights, frantically trying to shut down the power before her squadmates were overwhelmed.

"You can't do this, Commander. There's more at stake than you know." Petrovsky's holo followed her up. Just for the pleasure of making things difficult, no doubt. "That reactor powers life support systems for dozens of wards across the station. Shut it down and thousands of people perish."

People wiped out just by a simple press of a button.

She couldn't.

She _wouldn_'t let this become another Aratoht.

"You hearing this, Aria?"

"Yes, and I don't care! Shut it down!"

So there it finally was. After all those little prostrations and speeches that she was fighting for all of Omega, for everyone's liberation, here was the tangible proof she would willingly snuff out the lives of thousands of innocent people, just for the convenience, for the insurance, without even searching for another way.

"You're fighting to free those people!" Shepard objected harshly, not even bothering to hide her abhorrence.

"And what good am I if I end up killed in some reactor because you didn't have the balls to make the tough choices? Shut it down now, Shepard!" Aria repeated, anger growing.

"Shepard, don't!" Nyreen. Of course she would take the civilians' side and fight on their behalf. "Try re-routing power away from the force fields."

The red button that would shut the reactor automatically down was blinking at her, its glow trying to entice her to press it. But she wouldn't. Too much innocent blood had been spilled. She would not add more. She wasn't a terrorist with a badge. No one could make her one.

Shepard began furiously typing away at the console, already running into a block. "Damn it!" Where was Tali when they needed her? "Hold tight down there!" She could feel the sweat building on her forehead.

"Re-routing the power to maintain the other systems?" Petrovsky asked, tone conversational. "I admire your restraint, Commander. I expect nothing less from someone with your morals."

"Are you crazy?" Aria all but screeched through her communicator. "We're almost spent! Nyreen, watch your flank!"

"Cover them if you can, Garrus!" Shepard ordered, fingers flying as she bypassed a firewall, clenching her teeth when she hit another.

"I'm on it!"

"Why do you work for her, Shepard? Can't you see what she is? She doesn't care who gets hurt!" What the hell was Petrovsky playing at? What could he possibly hope to accomplish? Her partnership with Aria was already strained. How could he possibly add to it?

"What the hell are you waiting for? Just overload the reactor!"

"She'd just throw thousands of lives away. And Officer Vakarian...you know what she'd do to him if she could," Petrovsky continued as if Aria hadn't said anything. "Do you honestly think she'll willingly spare his life just out of debt to you? After what he planned to do to her?"

That certainly crossed her mind back on the elevator to the eezo plant, but Aria needed Shepard's help. She knew what it would mean if she negated her vow about Garrus. She may have threatened action, but she wouldn't actually go through with it.

_Why delude yourself, Jane? You know he's right. Why else was she so vague before? You know she sees him as a threat, real or imagined. _

She'd be damned before she'd tell Petrovsky any of that.

A pained grunt from Garrus almost made Shepard break away from the console. "You ok out there, Garrus?" She tried not to sound overly-worried.

"Bastard got me in the side. I'm fine. Just finish re-rerouting the power."

Garrus's encouragement fueled her, pushing her through another firewall. The sweat beads had found their way into her eyes and it took every effort to not stop and rub them away.

"Shepard, Nyreen's down too. I'm stabilizing her. You can't re-route the power in time. Hit the fucking overload! Now!"

Shepard knew that tone. It was one Aria had used the first time they met, when Aria told her about the one rule on Omega.

Guess she was going to have to break it.

"This shouldn't be that hard. Maybe something inside is holding you back. Maybe deep down you've started to think the galaxy would be better off without her. Maybe your Archangel has finally convinced you to join his quest to take down Aria."

She should have turned off her communicator or switched the channel, so the others didn't hear, but she couldn't break her concentration now that she was so close, now that she was struggling to stay focused with him trying to capitalize on her doubts.

"You know that's why he came back, Shepard. He had power and influence here, something he could never have under you. You think because he spared Lantar Sidonis it means he doesn't still carry Archangel and his desires with him?"

How could he possibly know all this? But then she remembered the Illusive Man read reports from Miranda on all their missions, reports he probably kept and Petrovsky had access to. He was certainly thorough, she'd give him that.

"Enough," Shepard said through gritted teeth, trying to sound convincing. She had to stop listening; she was stronger than this. She couldn't let him play into her doubts like this.

"Deny it all you want, Commander. Both of you can, but it won't make much difference in the end. If he has the opportunity, he will take it." Petrovsky's holo was close enough to her now that he was practically at her side, spouting these toxic thoughts into her ear. "Because you both know she's never going to learn. She'll never change. Even if you win, Omega loses. And _you _will lose _him, _one way or another."

What the hell was that supposed to mean? He couldn't know about their relationship too…could he?

"I said enough!" Shepard could only hope she appeared more certain, more unfazed than before. She breathed a deep sigh of relief when the holo-image of the reactor before her turned blue, giving the all-clear.

Shepard turned back, watching the force field around her squadmates shut down. Petrovsky disappeared without a final jab or attempt at mind manipulation. He had done quite enough already. Son of a bitch probably recognized that.

So what if Petrovsky was right about Aria? She was also the only one who could keep Omega semi-functional. Unless Shepard wanted the station to fall into complete anarchy and become the Wild West, she had no choice but to back her.

And she didn't even need to start with Garrus. Maybe his leadership skills were overshadowed under her as the old Shadow Broker claimed in his notes on Garrus, but he had proven himself capable beyond Omega. How he acted now, with the Primarch asking him for all that tactical advice, Shepard had spent many a time assuring Garrus he could make the right calls. And how flustered he had gotten when she suggested he could be the new Primarch if Victus didn't work out.

The most influential and powerful position in the turian hierarchy. How much more powerful could you get?

Yet...

Yet Aria's ruthlessness had been proven time and time again. Her willingness to sacrifice those people, seeing it in person, didn't set well with her. She couldn't make the feeling go away that Aria needed to be brought in line before this went any further.

Yet the look in Garrus's eyes when killing that Adjutant and his clear struggles with being back there.

And yet the cold, hard truth was she didn't trust Aria to keep her word about Garrus. No one crossed, or tried to cross, Aria T'Loak and got away unscathed to tell the tale.

Aria was right. Petrovsky was right. Garrus was right. Shepard could never change her.

Petrovsky's words had struck a nerve and she threw every single curse she knew at him for doing this to her at the most crucial moment of their assault.

She tried not display any of those doubts when she finally reached her companions, but the moment she saw the unadulterated fury on Aria's face, her whole body tense with rage, sending her a glare that would have had one of her underlings tripping over themselves to escape her wrath, Shepard braced herself for the incredibly heated argument she was sure was about to break out when they didn't have mechs dropping on their heads.

* * *

A/N: I remember when I saw this scene with Petrovsky and how disappointed I was it didn't lead to anything. How it was set up, it made it seem like Shepard might actually take his words to heart, if you so chose for Shepard to do (cause it is hard to claim what Petrovsky says in-game isn't true to some extent). Maybe not right then and there, but afterwards it could have led to some type of rift. Anyhoo, let me know what you guys think!


	10. -10-

A/N: Greetings! I'm finally back with a long-overdue update for this fic. A big heart-felt thank you to Bluumberry, Bella, Danie-Dono, Calasin, Blausen, and a guest reviewer for your reviews and kind words last chapter, as well as those who have favorited, are following, or viewed this story!

* * *

-10-

Even with Nyreen and Garrus stabilized with a generous swabbing of medi-gel, they still traveled at a slower pace to the agreed upon rendezvous point. Plus it didn't help they still had Cerberus troopers and mechs chasing them out of the reactor. They were able to finally lose them about three-quarters of the way to the meeting place, which was supposedly near an elevator that would take them to the Gozu District.

And towards Afterlife.

When the last mech tailing them fell, they decided to rest for a moment and catch their breaths. They hadn't been contacted by Zuhayr yet, a fact that did not seem to concern Aria. Shepard doubted she was concerned with anything else at the moment other than tearing Shepard a new one.

"You alright?" Shepard plunged forth, seeing no reason to delay it now.

Aria popped the heat sink from her shotgun and inserted a new one, none too gently. "Despite your best efforts to kill me?" She stalked up to Shepard, like a hunter towards her prey, wasting no time in invading Shepard's personal space. "Your soft heart almost cost me everything!"

"Quiet, Aria, it worked," Nyreen scowled, jumping to Shepard's defense. "Shepard saved us without sacrificing innocent lives. I applaud her." At least she had made someone happy.

"And if she had failed?" Aria continued, not appeased. "If it had taken her a second longer….Don't you get that we may not be standing here?"

Shepard wasn't going to cower like a child at Aria's spitting fury, no matter how intimidating it may be or how many centuries older she was than Shepard. "I don't sacrifice lives unless absolutely necessary, Aria. That's how _I _operate. You knew that when you asked for my help."

Aria's fingers visible tightened around her gun. "And _you _also knew what would happen if anything or anyone got in the way of this invasion's success."

Why did Shepard feel like she had heard this for the uumpth time that day?

Probably because she had.

This time Garrus joined the fray, moving to stand by Shepard. "She shut down the force fields, didn't she? What does it matter how she did it?"

Aria's mouth opened to offer a rebuff, but she was stopped by a pinging on her omni-tool. Zuhayr's image popped into view, informing Aria they had made it to the rendezvous point.

"Understood. Keep any eye out for Cerberus reinforcements. Hate for you to be set upon before we even get to Afterlife."

"Concerned, Aria?" Shepard couldn't properly see him, but she could imagine the large sneer on his face.

"Not even remotely." She didn't even wait for a response, closing the vid-screen on her omni-tool. The ferocity in her eyes had only cooled a little when they landed on Shepard.

"We'll finish this later, Shepard," she vowed.

Maybe it had been a good thing to have those soldiers and mechs after them. Less downtime that way.

Aria directed the trio to follow her, insisting they weren't too far to the meeting place. After a few minutes, when Shepard stopped keeping a watchful eye on every nook and cranny, every shadowy corner, every eerily silent alleyway for an ambush, she noticed Garrus had fallen slightly behind.

Shepard slowed her pace so she could walk by his side. She noted how his hand had drifted down to his side where he'd been shot. "You doing ok?"

"Yeah, it's only a flesh wound. Just a little sore, don't worry," Garrus said, shrugging it off.

Shepard suspected it hurt him more than he let on, but she let that go. She wasn't done with him yet, though. The image of such burning embers in his eyes from that Adjutant encounter was still freshly engraved in her mind.

"Earlier, with that Adjutant. It was already dead when it hit the floor," she remarked as casually as possible. Was it because it attacked _her_? Was that why he reacted as strongly as he did?

She spotted the slight stiffening of his body, though he maintained his pace. "Told you, have to be sure with those things. They don't seem to go down easy. And being turned into another Adjutant is not a very enticing option for anyone. I happen to like your figure as is. Though having the cannon attached to your arm would be quite convenient."

He was trying to joke his way out of the conversation, but Shepard could sense how forced it was. Especially with the line about her.

It still didn't feel completely right.

"_You think because he spared Lantar Sidonis it means he doesn't still carry Archangel and his desires with him?"_

Damn Petrovsky for saying that. Damn her for not being strong enough to brush the words away. Maybe this time with the Adjutant it didn't matter if Archangel came out of hiding, but if it was an organic instead? What would happen then?

They fell into an edgy silence, Shepard not knowing what to say and Garrus probably sensing she knew he was forcing his sarcasm. She shouldn't have even started again. Aria and Nyreen weren't too far ahead of them and except for the sound of gunfire in the distance, they could have easily heard Shepard and Garrus talking.

"I see them. They're straight ahead." Aria had been right. It hadn't been much further.

Shepard could only hope that not talking with Garrus now wouldn't come back to bite them in the ass later. But she had already told him her feelings about Archangel.

In the end, like with Sidonis, this was ultimately up to him.

* * *

As they approached the mercs, Shepard noticed how everyone seemed to be standing around, waiting for orders. No signs of a Cerberus attack, no wounded or dead soldiers on the ground, no bullet holes seared into the walls or floors.

She had looked around for the merc with the bird etched into his collar and wearing his helmet with the large neon eye-holes, but Toombs was nowhere to be found. Where could he have gone to?

They found Zuhayr right in the middle of his troops, in deep conversation with one of his mercs. When he spotted the four approaching them, he waved the merc away, barking at him to make something quick.

"Convenient timing," he remarked, though he seemed anything but pleased at their arrival.

Aria pushed her way to the front. "Not happy to see us, Zuhayr?"

"Just a personal matter that's being seen to," he replied, his tone making it clear that was all he'd reveal on the subject, for whatever reason. "My scouts have been getting reports. All force fields are down. Civilians are taking to the streets in droves and Cerberus is pulling back. Now is our perfect chance."

"That definitely won't last," Shepard agreed, knowing the civilians would only be able to hold Cerberus back for so long (not that she had been entirely sold using civilians as cannon fodder in the first place).

Nyreen echoed Shepard's concern. "The people don't have the training to go up against Cerberus frontlines. They'll be wiped out."

"Civilian casualties cannot be avoided," Aria said, wasting no time with a detached rebuttal. "You'll have to accept this."

"Say what you will, Aria, I won't allow senseless deaths."

"And neither will we," Shepard chimed in, speaking for her and Garrus, ignoring the glare forming on Aria's face and being sent her direction.

"Clearly." Fortunately that was all Aria said. Did she not want Zuhayr to know how fragile the partnership between her and Shepard had become?

Another ping from Aria's omni-tool interrupted the conversation. This time it was from Bray, informing the group his team had encountered Cerberus troops escorting engineers within the maintenance tunnels. From what they could tell, they were planning to blow up the station's central support columns.

"If they detonate the main column, they'll cut off the way to Afterlife. The Talon offensive will be stopped cold," Aria said, urgency rising in her voice.

"My forces can go and join the assault while you take care of Cerberus in the tunnels."

Aria nodded in agreement to Zuhayr's plan. "You and Nyreen can lead the frontal assault. Bray, maintain your position and engage. Delay them as long as you can. The rest of us will come down there and take them out before they blow the columns. We'll meet you both in the markets after we've taken care of those bombs."

Nyreen looked less than thrilled at having to team up with Zuhayr, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.

The same nervous salarian Shepard had seen at Garrus's old base came up to them, saluting Zuhayr with a shaky hand. "Sir, we've caught the Cerberus spy and are bringing him back now."

Shepard's mind began to jump to Toombs, but immediately tossed that thought out. It would be a cold day in hell before Toombs became a Cerberus spy.

"Ah, having a little bit of trouble keeping people in line, I see?"

Zuhayr slowly unhooked his Carnifex from his hip, titling it back and forth in his hand, the synthetic light from above reflecting off of it. "Not for long."

"Well, we'll leave you to take care of that, then." Aria turned to Shepard, completely unfazed by what Zuhayr might do. "Shepard, I need to talk to you in private."

Too much to hope Aria would just let what happened go.

Shepard nodded, but before followed Aria, she whispered to Garrus to stay close to Nyreen. Zuhayr still made her very uncomfortable and she wouldn't put anything past him. She didn't even want to leave Garrus's side, but one look at Aria and Shepard knew she wouldn't get out of this conversation even if she glued her feet to the floor. As much as she appreciated Garrus backing her up, she didn't want to give Aria any reason to go back on her word.

She really sounded like a broken record every time she thought that in past two or three hours. Or maybe it was longer than that. Certainly felt like it.

Aria brought her over behind a pile of crates to provide some privacy, yet allowing them a view of the others.

"Worried about your lover, Shepard?" Aria sounded anything but kind in that question. Shepard scolded herself for making it seem so obvious.

"Let's just say I don't trust Zuhayr to keep his word."

_Or you._

"Because of how he reacted to that spy? You should be happy his attention is focused on someone else rather than him."

Should, but she wasn't. Especially when she saw the traitor in question being tossed to the ground at Zuhayr's feet, the human shaking in terror, head bowed before Zuhayr, pleading for his life. Especially when Zuhayr didn't say anything but kept his pistol aimed at the man's head. He wasn't just executing the man and getting it over with. He was dragging it out, making the merc experience the fear of death, lying in wait for the opportune moment to strike.

"Has he always been so…severe?"

Aria craned her neck to glance over at the sight. "Would you be any less if you lost your freedom for ten years?"

Shepard had never been in that position, but she hoped she wouldn't become that violent.

"So you're condoning this?"

The man was on his knees now, begging for mercy, that Cerberus had threatened to kill him if he didn't cooperate but that he hadn't given them any crucial information and wouldn't betray Zuhayr again (the memory of Sidonis wasn't too far from her conscious). A vorcha who had him by his collar snarled out something about the man lying, but it was obvious just at first glance that his fear was genuine. Unless the man was a really, really good actor.

"His methods are extreme, but sometimes we do what we must to ensure our places in the world, do what needs to be done."

Shepard realized Aria's subtle jab at her actions from earlier.

"There was a better way to shut down the force fields, so I took it," Shepard defended. If Aria was looking for some type of apology, she wasn't going to get one.

Shepard watched as Zuhayr lowered his gun to his side and ordered the vorcha to let the man go. The man shed unabashed tears, thinking himself lucky to have escaped Zuhayr's wrath.

"By luck. The next time this happens, will you roll the dice again, Shepard? If you're forced to save civilians at the cost of Petrovsky escaping?"

Zuhayr barked out an order to a nearby krogan to hand him his flame thrower. The krogan tossed it to Zuhayr. In a blur, he used the butt of it to knock the man to the ground, the blunt force leaving the man clutching his face and struggling to right himself.

"What exactly are you trying to say, Aria? What makes you think you'll change me when I can't change you?"

Shepard couldn't take her eyes off of Zuhayr, who wasted little time in pointing the flamethrower at the man and shooting a raging inferno at him. He gave no cry of enjoyment or anger at the sight, his face a cold, stoic mask except for the small sneer threatening to form on his lips. No one tried to help the man; if they had, they probably would have been burnt too.

Shepard averted her gaze, closing her eyes, when the sight of the man burning to a crisp, skin melting away and the sounds of his pained cries as he died became too much. She briefly wondered what Garrus and Nyreen thought at the sight of such brutality.

"If it wasn't for the deal between him and me, Shepard, Archangel would have been hung and quartered for all to see." Aria paused. When she spoke again, her voice had lowered significantly. "That could still happen."

The threat was clearly laced in Aria's words, a threat that had Shepard's heart pounding so violently she could feel her heartbeat in her ears. Aria had made veiled threats before about Garrus's safety, but this one left her with goosebumps on her arms and a cold feeling sweeping over her.

Shepard opened her eyes, narrowing them at Aria. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Aria kept her gaze locked with Shepard. "It means that if anything like what happened in the reactor happens again, you stop me from splattering Petrovsky over the walls, for whatever reason, anything threatens me taking back Omega, or if _he_ decides to play hero, his life and the resources I promised are forfeit."

So possibly sacrificing more lives, essentially letting Aria do things her way and just basically being there for fire support (again, so much for the relinquishing command to Shepard), to keep Garrus alive and obtain Aria's resources and aid towards the war.

Not a pleasant ultimatum.

"How do I even know you're telling the truth?" Shepard demanded. "That you don't want Garrus dead too and that you won't kill him when you have a chance?"

"_You know what she'd do to him if she could."_

Aria's eyebrow rose. "Didn't think you'd let Petrovsky get so deep inside your head, Shepard. But I guess you'll just have to take me at my word, for whatever value you place on that. As long as you both stay in line, there'll be no problems. I've said that all along."

Shepard looked at the smoking and charred remains that had once been that man, Zuhayr tossing the flamethrower back to the krogan, not once looking back at the man he had just butchered. He didn't say anything, loudly exclaim this was what happened to people who crossed him.

He had no need to. Everyone got the message just by the sight of the mangled body with their own eyes.

"So I'm nothing more now than a tool to be manipulated, just like Nyreen?" Shepard asked, barely concealing the resentment. Her eyes journeyed over to Garrus and Nyreen, catching Garrus's eyes with her own for one brief moment before he turned away to face Nyreen. She was too far away to properly read them, but it just felt good to know he was there, despite the tension still stubbornly clinging between them.

"I respect your abilities, Shepard. But you know where my priorities are." Aria didn't even pretend to sound apologetic. "Could you honestly expect different from me?"

Perhaps Shepard shouldn't have, but she did. Had, at least.

The world was filled with nuisances. Most people were more complex than what was on the surface. She knew that, understood that. She also understood that others could be defined just as easily in terms of black and white alone.

She honestly hadn't thought Aria would fall into that category, despite her reputation. It was obvious from how she still cared about Nyreen (in her own way), spared Patriarch and Wrex (if suspicions _were _correct about that), and allowed Shepard to fight for General Oraka's life rather than agreeing to Vosque outright killing him.

Shepard had seen the shades of grey in her. Hell, she had even respected her. Now that respect was just as fragile as their partnership.

"Cerberus troops incoming!"

That had everyone's guns out and a scrambling to avoid the incoming gunfire from Cerberus soldiers who seemingly appeared out of thin air. Shepard pulled out her Predator just as another person cried out, "Atlases launching rockets!" The cry went out a second too late, rockets already striking at a cluster of mercs, another heading towards the crates Shepard and Aria were behind. They leapt away just before the blast, but were still sent sprawling to the floor in two opposite directions.

Shepard's ears were ringing when someone cried out something else. By the time her mind could work out the words "smoke grenades," they were already in mid-air. So many of them were launched at the same time, it created such a thick layer of smoke no one could see through. Shepard felt around the floor, using her hands to feel when she came upon a crate to duck behind. Luckily she didn't have to crawl too far.

The smoke hadn't even let up when Cerberus lobbed a second round into the mix, keeping it strong. She could barely keep her eyes open, let anyone see where Garrus, Nyreen, or Aria were.

She prepared to call for them above the panicked shouts and gunfire, but a steel grip suddenly clinched around her body, holding her in place. She then felt something prick her neck. "I told you I'd come for you. I warned you what I did to people who joined up with Cerberus."

Toombs. How the hell could she see where he was when she couldn't even see anything? Did he have a body heat sensor in his helmet? And where had he been this entire time?

She tried struggling and calling out, but her limbs began to feel limp and her tongue heavy, her mind cloudy. Even through the smoke, she spotted the discarded syringe on the floor.

"What…what…?" She tried to spit out more words, demanding what he'd done to her, but her body was fighting it, tricked with a fast acting sedative that it was time for her to sleep.

"That scientist should have died, Shepard. We both know it. But you had to stop it. Show him mercy."

The black edges around her eyes were growing in size, her eyelids felt so heavy. She tried again to call for help, fighting through the fog to remember that Garrus was there and to call to him, but nothing would come except a weak gasp from her throat.

Before the darkness took her, she heard Toombs whisper with malice in her ear in his distorted voice, "Don't expect the same from me."


	11. -11-

A/N: Salutations! Hope I didn't keep you all waiting too long with this update. Had to get other stories finished, which has been a long time coming.

A big thank you to DarkAislinn2012, Blausen, a Guest reviewer, Calasin, and Danie-Dono for your reviews last chapter and those who favorited or followed this story. Your support either through words or a simple button click means the world to me!

* * *

-11-

Her mind fooled her into thinking she was back on the Normandy at first, when the mix of blue and aqua light hit her eyes. The fish tank in her cabin was always so bright when the rest of the room was completely ensconced in darkness. When she heard someone above her say something about waking up, in a muddled voice that sounded somewhat like Garrus, she turned her head, blinking back the blurriness, ready to plead with him that they didn't need to be on duty yet. They could wait another hour or two, just take the time to enjoy each other's company. A luxury most days.

Then everything came back to her in a rush, shattering that happy illusion into tiny pieces in the blink of an eye. Omega and the push to Afterlife, Aria's threat, Zuhayr and his band of mercs, the fight and lingering strain between her and Garrus, the attack by Cerberus…

And Toombs.

"Good. You're awake."

Toombs had kneeled down beside her, still wearing his helmet. Shepard was lying flat on her back, stiff as a board, her weapons cast aside and torn from her armor harnesses. She tried moving her arms and legs, but quickly discovered her arms were tied above her head with unyielding cuffs, as were her legs held together in the same way, crossed at her ankles.

"Don't try to move too much, Shepard. Zuhayr designed those cuffs to de-incentivize attempts at escape. Makes your omni-tool ineffective too."

Now that her vision had cleared, Shepard saw a large tank, electric sparks sputtering at its base, similar to the one she had found Grunt in. It was completely empty, but the glass cover was open. Her stomach churned at the sight of spots of blood in its inside. This whole room just felt wrong. Cold. Cold enough to see her breath leaving her mouth in small puffs, when the rest of Omega was warm or humid.

"Where the hell did you even take me?"

"Someplace your turians and Aria T'Loak will never find you in." If the situation wasn't so serious, Shepard would have laughed in his helmeted face. He obviously didn't know any of them, especially Garrus Vakarian.

He'd notice her missing. He'd come to find her, even if no one else would.

Toombs's head rotated around the room as he talked, taking in the sterile surroundings. "We all knew about areas like this. When Cerberus would come and take people away, claim civil disobedience. They were just being taken to solitary confinement, until they fell in line, they told people. Instead they were taken here and other areas like this." He gestured to the tank. "Processed and implanted. Infected."

He leaned in closer, Shepard hearing his choppy breaths through his filters. "They were experimenting on Omega's people, Shepard. All to create Adjutants _they _could control. That's all that matters to them. Experiments on people to create their own private army, their breed of super soldiers, no matter the cost."

She twisted her head away when he leaned in even further, only a few inches away from her face. "I never condoned any of that," Shepard insisted.

Toombs didn't like that answer, grasping Shepard's chin so hard so she was forced to look straight at him.

"You think that excuses you?" Toombs cried out incredulously, tightening his hold even more, digging into her skin. "That makes you even more of a traitor! You still betrayed the memory of our squad by working with them!" Toombs finally raised his head and let go of Shepard's chin, which she was pretty sure would have finger marks from where he seized her. Shepard tried to hide the growing unease at his large neon holes boring into Shepard's body like they possessed x-ray vision, revealing all of her sins to him.

"Do you even remember them, Shepard? Our little group? Wilkensen, Andrews, Neyata, Arroyo, Mays?"

"Of course I do." She remembered the group well as this was Shepard's first commission as a lieutenant commander. She also remembered her second-in-command, a snot-nosed ladder climber by the name of Malcolm Conway, who had also held antiquated views about women in positions of command. She had made it quite clear early on she would not tolerate his bullshit and he attempted to sabotage her relationship with the unit every chance he could. Unfortunately for him, he was a hard-ass whereas Shepard treated all of her squad with respect and gave them a willing ear when they had concerns. That earned Conway's ire even more.

Of the fifty members in her unit, those three men, Wilkensen, Neyata, and Arroyo, and the two women, Andrews and Mays, along with Toombs, were who she spent most of her down time with. Within their group, only Toombs, Shepard, and Andrews (2nd Lieutenant Rebekkah Andrews) held higher ranks. The others in the little group had been privates, but that never mattered to Shepard. She never saw a person's rank.

"Do you, Shepard? Do you remember the good times? The late night rounds of Skyllian Five? Trading war stories? The smells, the tastes, of Arroyo's Argentinian cooking?" His voice became more strangled with raw emotional pain as he went on. "Or do you remember nothing but their screams like I do?"

For as long as Shepard lived, the sounds of panicked gunfire, the ground literally shifting and falling away under their feet, and the petrified screams would remain implanted in her memory. Shepard had had a bad feeling about camping out that night, in the same location where all those colonists disappeared, but it had been getting dark with an approaching storm coming their way and they had been hiking around the colony all day in search of the colonists. Everyone was exhausted. For once, she gave into pressure from Conway, on the condition they head out at first light.

One of the thresher maws devoured Conway's tent first, along with two others, she heard from Andrews. They had already killed or eaten fifteen of their squad before Shepard was roused from her sleep by Andrews and Toombs. This was the first time they had faced anything like this. Beyond their control and knowledge, Shepard sent out the distress signal across Alliance channels, instructing everyone to make for the landing zone a few clicks away from the colony for extraction. Shepard wasn't stupid. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened to the colonists. Whatever this species was, the humans had disturbed their nest and they were none too happy. Or maybe they were quite the opposite, having finally found a new source of food.

She might have risked it if it was only one, but with four, she was not about to take chances. But running rather than fighting still didn't matter. There were too many of them. Andrews went on ahead to the Mako to get it started while Shepard and Toombs tried to rouse anyone still in their tents and hadn't heard the commotion. A few had made it to the Mako, but it was quickly consumed by another maw.

She barely had time to mourn for Andrews when she saw Wilkensen and Mays get blasted by thresher maw acid, writhing on the ground as their skin and insides burnt. A maw almost nailed Shepard with the acid, but she ducked behind a building. The worst that happened was a piece of nearby metal which the acid hit instead flew across Shepard's cheek, earning her the scar that Cerberus saw fit not to replace during their reconstruction of her.

Some were foolish enough to try and fire back, but they didn't last long. She and Toombs had been separated by this point and she thought she saw him disappear in a sandcloud that spanned the length of their camp. She had called out to him, but among the gunfire and screams and the gusts of wind, it would have been impossible for him to hear her. Then a thresher maw sprouted from the ground near where Toombs had been and Shepard gave up all hope of his survival.

Everything had gone quiet by the time she was able to get out of the colony. She had known everyone was gone even before she made it to the landing zone, where an Alliance cruiser picked her up a half hour later.

"Was working for Cerberus so wonderful you were willing to spit on their memories? On me?" he demanded, yanking her out of her recollections.

"I'm not with Cerberus anymore. I never truly was." Wasn't that obvious by the fact Petrovsky wanted her captured too? "I teamed up with them only to stop the Collectors, but I never trusted the Illusive Man. I only did it because I had no other choice, I swear, Toombs." She hoped she could try and reason with him again (she had reasoned with Saren when he was indoctrinated, hadn't she?). At least stall him, try to subdue him somehow.

Toombs went stock still at her words and for a brief second, she thought she had convinced him. She would be extremely disappointed.

"You said that to me before. You swore you would've come back for me on Akuze, if you had known." His knees creaked with a pop as he stood up, striding over to one of the malfunctioning consoles, punching at a few buttons. From the angle she was at it, she couldn't see what he was typing.

"It took two years, but we both gave our testimonies, you know, on Cerberus. Me and the good doctor. I was so close, Shepard. So close to finding peace, beginning to let it go. The screams hadn't stopped, but for the first time in years, absolution would be mine."

He gripped the edges of the console so tightly it began to shake. He hung his head as he continued, his voice dancing between distressed and enraged.

"Then I found out Wayne wasn't going to be prosecuted. He played nice with the Alliance and was willing to give them intel on Cerberus in exchange for his freedom." He spun back around so wildly Shepard was surprised he kept his balance. "What kind of justice is that, Shepard? He killed our brothers-in-arms, our sisters-in-arms, and all it took to escape justice was to betray Cerberus?" he hissed, body quaking in fury.

She hadn't known that. Maybe she should have, at the very least, followed up with Hackett or Anderson when she had received that e-mail from Toombs. She couldn't deny, after she had found Toombs, the feelings of guilt that had cropped up afterwards, only to have to lock them away in the face of Saren and Sovereign. Seeing the e-mail had stirred those emotions within her, but she pushed them away again in the face of everything that needed to be done for the suicide mission.

It certainly didn't sit well with her, the thought of that scientist not getting some type of prison sentence. Actually, it made her blood boil just as much as it did for Toombs, the very thought of those responsible for the deaths of her team going unpunished.

"Why didn't you come to me and tell me about this, Toombs? I could have helped you make it right!" This shouldn't be happening. There was no logical reason to be at odds with each other. They should be on the same side. Why couldn't Toombs see that? Why was he so hell-bent on taking out his anger on her?

"I had been released from the mental health center," he continued like Shepard hadn't said a word. "Said I was making a good recovery. I even tricked myself into believing that. But that news, Shepard, it brought everything back. I knew that nothing would be right again until _he_ was dead.

"I spent days, weeks, preparing. Tracking Wayne's movements, getting access to a suitable weapon that wouldn't draw attention to me. But when the day to execute my plan finally came, found him right where he was supposed to be in the Wards, someone else came right up to him and shot him in the head. The Illusive Man doesn't broker traitors."

He gave a crazed laugh at a joke only he seemed to be on. "They even took that from me, Shepard," he said, continuing to laugh hysterically. "All because you had to play the buddy act three years ago, manipulate me into sparing his life."

"I was trying to stop you from becoming like them." Despite her reputation for moral certainty, she was not resistant to the lure of revenge. How it tempts you, tries to convince you that it would bring balance back to the world, help you achieve inner peace. No one ever truly was immune in the heat of a moment, when physical and emotional wounds were still raw. But Shepard knew it would only be a salve. More importantly, she knew you risked becoming the very thing you vowed revenge against in the first place. There would come a point where you didn't like what you saw in the mirror every morning. She hadn't wanted to see Toombs go down that path, once being one of her own.

That's why she fought so hard for Garrus. Would continue to fight against Archangel's return.

"I had already killed the others, Shepard," Toombs rationalized. "Three of the lead scientists. I was already one of them. All I needed to do was kill the last one." She could feel the glare through his helmet. "Since I was denied that, guess you'll pay the price in his place."

What the hell was he planning to do to her? If he was going to just shoot her, he would have done it much earlier.

She had to continue to stall him. "So that's what you've done with your merc group this whole time? Kill anyone with any connection to Cerberus?"

Toombs resumed typing away at the console he stationed himself at. "_Did_ with my merc group. I formed the Sparrows back on the Citadel. There were only ten of us, and everyone had suffered at the hands of Cerberus. Either lost a friend, spouse, sibling. One even lost his daughter. Or they were made guinea pigs like I was. We did good work, disrupting Cerberus trade routes, killing their scientists or soldiers, freeing their prisoners.

"Then we ended up on Omega on a job to hunt down Cerberus scouts. A week later, everything went to hell. Trapped under quarantine with Adjutants breathing down our necks, then…oh, and then…_Cerberus_ invaded. We were caught in an ambush, completely outnumbered. We didn't stand a chance."

Oh, how familiar this all sounded. Too close to home.

Would this be what would happen, if Archangel completely took Garrus over?

He stalked over to her again, undoing the clasps of his helmet as he went. "See what they did to me, Shepard." He wrenched his helmet off, finally revealing the man behind the mask for the first time.

She fought back a gasp at the state Toombs's face was in, like it had been bashed in over and over again, no inch of his skin unblemished, just a mass of scars and permanently swollen skin. It didn't even look completely healed. Hadn't the invasion happened a few months ago?

"Do you see what the people you called allies do to their enemies? Being injected with thresher maw acid wasn't enough for them. But the face is nothing compared to the beatings to my chest. The fire constantly burning within my lungs, like I can never get enough air!" he croaked, his breathing more labored than behind his helmet. "They left me for dead. Always being left for dead! Until Zuhayr and his mercs stumbled upon me, only gaining assistance when I told him of my experience with Cerberus and I swore myself to his cause. He needed people who could give orders as well as take them without question."

"Zuhayr won't take kindly to you running off," Shepard reasoned, still fixated on Toombs's destroyed visage.

Toombs's face shifted, least she thought it did. "No, he won't. I'm too valuable for him to kill, but he hates dissenters. He might just shoot me on sight. But I'll gladly pay the price." He was far from the man who had said the sniper who tried to kill Garrus was lucky to avoid the punishment Zuhayr would have had in store. That hadn't even been a few hours ago. Had seeing Shepard brought everything back that badly, caused him to lose his fragile grip on his sanity that quickly?

"See this, Shepard?" He gestured to the glass tank with wide arms, showing it off with the same fervor as an inventor who discovered the key to his invention's success. "This is where they created the Adjutants, implanted the civilians. The virus is still stored in the system."

Her eyes widened, realizing what he was planning to do, a slow panic stirring within her body, her every instinct screaming at her to run, get away before she was mutated.

Toombs heaved Shepard off the ground by the waist and started dragging her towards the tank. Shepard saw her chance.

With all the strength she could summon, she threw her body against his, the force knocking him backwards onto the ground and releasing her. With her feet tied together and her omni-tool made inert, she put all her energy into hopping towards the stairs while Toombs re-oriented himself.

She didn't get very far, only hopping a few steps when the cuffs at her hands and feet lit up and a vicious shockwave racked her body. She doubled-over on the ground, crying out and withering in agony until her mind screamed at her to stop moving. She went still, all the while tears streaming down her face beyond her control. How was this not frying her cybernetics? How was she not dying?

It finally stopped when she heard Toombs approached her again, though she was still left gasping for air and twitching when an aftershock coursed through her. "I warned you. You won't get very far with those on." She was facing away from him so she couldn't see his face, but she didn't need to. His voice alone told her he was immensely enjoying seeing her in so much pain. "But you're welcome to continue trying."

In nerve-wracking pain or living the rest of her life as an Adjutant? Her choice was clear.

When he pulled her to her feet again, she struggled more openly this time, summoning every ounce not zapped away from the electric currents. Which followed not too long after.

Gritting through the pain, she continued her struggle to get away. It felt like every nerve in her body was on fire. Her breathing quickened, sweat built on her brow and face, mixing with the tears. Toombs was better prepared this time, but he still didn't discourage her from fighting (despite the discomfort it caused to his own body), further confirming he got a perverse satisfaction out of her struggling.

She tried to delay it, but between the strength of his grip and her energy literally being drained away by the second, she lost the battle and went limp in an attempt to get the currents to stop. They did only after she was pushed into the tank, smacking her face into its back, with Toombs quickly shutting the glass door closed with a button press from the nearby console.

She forced herself still to keep the shocks at bay, regain some of her strength, while her eyes darted frantically around looking for any type of weak spot. There was a tiny crack in the glass. Maybe if she pounded against it with her armored shoulder, maybe it would grow, eventually create enough of a break to make the tank useless.

She threw her entire weight into the glass, right where the webbing of the crack was, but it didn't even make a dent. She did it again and again, the shocks starting up again due to the vigorous movements. After a few attempts, the growth was only marginal, hardly enough to render the tank inoperable. She collapsed to her knees, on the verge of blacking out from the unrelenting jolts to her body, but forcing herself to maintain consciousness.

Toombs finished at the console, a synthetic voice announcing the tank would release the Adjutant virus in exactly sixty seconds. He moved to the front of the tank and after a few seconds, he moved even closer so she could plainly see the satisfied expression on his mangled face highlighted in the bluish light.

The mock salute he offered with that vindictive, crazed smile on his lips spoke more volumes than delivering one final verbal taunt ever could.

Something leapt from the shadows behind him so suddenly Shepard didn't see what it was right away (it had happened in such a blur). Then she recognized the sliver and blue and knew without a doubt Garrus had come for her.

She could never remember a time when she'd been happier to see him.

"Garrus!" she cried out, slamming her knuckles against the glass. She didn't know how much he had heard, but he had to have heard the one minute part, even if he didn't know for exactly what.

But he didn't acknowledge her, too focused on his target and struggling with him on the ground. Her relief quickly turned to dread, as she realized it hadn't been Garrus who had come for her.

Archangel had.

"Thirty seconds until start-up."

"Garrus!" She tried again, her alarmed shout repelling off the walls of the tank and into her pounding ear drums.

Still nothing, but Shepard now saw another figure, another turian in fact, at the console, initiating the cancellation.

"Hold on, Commander!" Shepard would have to remember to thank Nyreen later, when she wasn't in a tank about to be infected with an Adjutant virus and she wasn't writhing in pain from being shocked.

The latches to the glass door released and the door sprung open, the VI droning at them about the cancellation.

"Are you alright, Shepard?"

"I'm fine, quick, undo the cuffs with your omni-tool!" Shepard instructed hurriedly. She had to get to Garrus, who showed no signs of letting up from keeping Toombs pinned to the ground to the point of suffocation and meleeing him in the face with the blunt end of a…wait, was that her pistol? When did he retrieve that?

Nyreen recognized the need for swiftness, running her omni-tool over Shepard. The cuffs fell away and Shepard breathed a sigh of relief at being able to move without being punished for it. Her legs still didn't want to cooperate, threatening to buckle underneath her when she hopped out of the tank.

"Garrus, stop, I'm fine!" Toombs was making a weak attempt at escape, but Shepard could see by the pain on his even more damaged face, his struggles to get oxygen into his already weak lungs. He was trapped. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. "He's down, Garrus, you can stop!" Shepard tried again, her voice shaking as she experienced a quick aftershock dancing up her spine.

But Toombs hadn't learned to keep his mouth shut. "That…that all you got, turian?" he taunted.

He grabbed Toombs by the scruff of his neck (or armor, as the case was) and switched from pinning him to the ground to the wall close by, gun pointed at his temple. If she hadn't become so accustomed to being around turians, she wouldn't have heard it, the warning growl in Garrus's subharmonics when he spoke, "Maybe we should turn _you_ into an Adjutant, Toombs. I'm sure we can find the time."

"_There's no escape this time, Doctor. I'd harvest your organs first, but we don't have the time."_

Just remembering that, when they had cornered Dr. Saleon in the old days, sent chills down her spine and a cold feeling all throughout her body.

The beginnings of Archangel.

She had to stop this.

Toombs didn't deserve her intervention, but she wasn't doing it for him.

"That's enough, Vakarian!" Shepard ordered, filling the Commander role once again

Garrus did pause at her authoritative tone, but only gave her a sideways glance. "He drugged you, kidnapped you, hurt you, planned on turning you into an Adjutant." He faced her fully then. The raging inferno was back in his eyes, along with the rough edge in his sub-flang. "Nothing will ever be enough!"

"_I've always hated injustice. The thought that Sidonis could get away with this…why should he go on living while ten good men lie in unmarked graves?"_

Shepard limped over to Garrus and bracing herself, she attempted to pull him away by the shoulder. "Remember what I told you, Garrus? You can't predict how people will act, but you can control how you'll respond!"

Garrus wrenched himself from her hold, batting her hand away. Her heart sunk when he spoke in the voice of Archangel again, disguised as Garrus. "You stopped me from delivering justice on Saleon and Sidonis. You won't stop me from doing it again!" He emphasized his point by pressing harder against Toombs's windpipe, but still not with enough force to kill him, ignoring the stunned look on Shepard's face.

Shepard whirled around to Nyreen, surprised she hadn't said anything yet with how similar their moral compasses were. Shepard hoped Nyreen could back Shepard up and help get Garrus off of Toombs before he dragged Toombs to the tank, since Archangel had clearly taken over too much for Garrus to see reason at the moment, but Nyreen's eyes were glued to the ceiling.

"Nyreen?" she called, trying to keep her voice from wobbling, still reeling from Gar…_Archangel's_ accusation.

Nyreen raised her rifle next, pointing it at the ceiling. "I heard rustling."

_No…not now._

Hell in the form of an Adjutant leapt from the rafter landing not far from them, snarling at the four of them and raising its arm cannon.

Shepard slammed her body to the ground, but her legs were still a little weak to move too fast. She felt something tug at her waist and pull her away from the Adjutant, which fired at Nyreen (who barely ducked in time herself) and was currently moving towards the fallen figure against the wall.

Shepard looked up at Garrus, the words to thank him dying on her lips the moment she saw the dark look on his face as he stared at Toombs.

"_You humans have a saying. An eye for an eye, a life for a life. He owes me ten lives…and I plan to collect."_

He was going to let Toombs, who was struggling to pick himself up, be attacked.

He was going to let him be infected, let the Adjutant do his work for him.

Time seemed to stand still. In that one brief moment, the thought like a tiny whisper prickled in the back of her mind. To allow it to happen. There were a million and one reasons to support it.

Why shouldn't she when he would have done the same to her?

But when Toombs's muted gaze met hers as the Adjutant prepared to pounce on him, she resisted the temptation trying to seduce her to give up every single principled bone in her body.

She didn't listen to it on that asteroid over Terra Nova with the batarian terrorists.

She wouldn't listen to it now.

"Nyreen, stop it!" Nyreen was quicker to act this time, not as frozen as before, but it did not deter the Adjutant from its attention on Toombs, which it just landed next to. Nyreen and Shepard wouldn't be able to take it down by themselves in time.

She grabbed Garrus by the face, her hands tightly pressed against his plates, whispering frantically to break him out of his Archangel persona. Thankfully he didn't recoil at her touch. "I know you're in there, Garrus. You didn't take the shot, remember? You told Sidonis to go. That was _your _choice, not Archangel's. I know you feel Toombs deserves this and maybe he does, but that makes you no better than him and I _know_ you're better than this."

"Shepard, I need help! Vakarian, snap out of it! Now!" The tone was the same one Nyreen used when addressing one of her Talons.

Shepard blocked out the gunfire and pitiful cries from Toombs as the Adjutant ran its tentacles over him, focusing on the softening of Garrus's eyes, the brief fluttering of his mandibles underneath her hands. She was getting close. She just needed to push a little more.

"I don't need Archangel. I need Garrus Vakarian by my side...I need my King of the Bottle Shooters."

Garrus blinked twice at Shepard, glancing over at Toombs, who was lying limp on the ground. He turned back to Shepard. Without a single word, he silently offered her pistol back to her while unfastening his assault rifle.

With three of them targeting the Adjutant, it could no longer ignore the barrage of bullets coming its way or Garrus's concussive shot. The Adjutant let out a bellow, charging at the three of them, right into a bombardment of an incineration blast, life grenade, and armor-piercing rifle ammo, falling right at their feet.

"Shepard, look." Nyreen pointed over at Toombs, who was convulsing on the floor. Shepard walked over to him, legs a little sturdier, zeroing in on the puncture wounds on Toombs's neck.

Nyreen kept her distance, looking extremely unnerved at the sight. "He's been infected. If you're going to do it, you need to end his life quickly. It doesn't take long to turn." Shepard vaguely remembered Nyreen saying how she had seen the conversion process firsthand.

Shepard chanced a quick look over at Garrus, whose eyes were firmly planted on the floor beside Toombs. He looked like a turian who was going through a long range of emotions, trying to sort them all out but failing miserably.

Shepard turned back to Toombs, his skin already stained black, a blob growing where his hair should have been, and the faded glare through half-cracked eyelids was growing brighter with an unnatural aqua light.

Toombs let out a hollow laugh, that of a man who had accepted his fate. "Going to leave me…like you…did on Akuze, Shepard?" he said, choking on the words.

Toombs may not have granted her mercy, but she would, for her former brother-in-arms.

Maybe she was a fool, maybe she was too much of a paragon for her own good, but she was fighting hard to not let anything compromise who she was.

Nor would she let Garrus fail at the same, no matter how much Archangel resisted.

"No." She raised the gun. "Not this time."

She fired the single round into Toombs's head, his glowing eyes dimming instantaneously and causing the transformation to come to a grinding halt.


	12. -12-

A/N: A ginormous thank you to those who reviewed last chapter, a Guest reviewer, Shootingstar7123, Calasin, inkjet, and Blausen, and those who favorited or are following this story!

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-12-

They didn't move out right away, all three of them processing the dead and partly mutilated body lying on the ground before them. It was truly ironic, escaping Cerberus capture after years upon years of experiments (bordering on pure torture) only to die at the hands of an Adjutant, a Cerberus creation.

"We should go, in case that wasn't the only one roaming around," Garrus stated as emotionlessly as possible.

Shepard's gaze finally tore away from the remains of her former squadmate, inhaling deeply to steady herself. "Yeah." She went off in search of her Widow, knowing it couldn't be too far.

"Still can't believe you were going to allow him to turn, suffer like that. What he did was horrible, but that's a fate worse than death. Nobody deserves that." Nyreen still sounded disturbed at the sight of Toombs, lost in the memories of the others she had seen transformed. Whatever courage she had summoned in the face of that Adjutant had been zapped away just as quickly. "I knew how ruthless you were to criminals as Archangel, but I still respected your dedication to the people of Omega and their safety. Really thought you had turned a corner, Vakarian." She almost sounded disappointed in him, like a teacher to a disobedient pupil.

Shepard spotted her Widow lying in the shadowy corner. She scowled at the nick on the top of the scope, probably caused from being haphazardly thrown from her back strap. Not an easy feat, given how heavy the thing was. Least it wasn't on the lens itself. It wasn't one she could easily replace.

She clearly heard Garrus's cross rebuttal. "Before you go giving orders to me or lecturing me again like I'm a child, what about you, Kandros? I seem to remember you preaching to me on staying by the book and you weren't shy about your disdain for freelancers. You wouldn't have been caught dead acting as a mercenary, let alone leading a merc band. Or _consorting_ with the likes of Aria T'Loak."

Shepard couldn't see the firm glare morphing on Nyreen's face plates from her vantage point, but she could imagine it there if her tone was any indicator. "I always lived by the same code I had back in the military. I still am. Don't insinuate that I haven't."

Shepard strapped the gun back onto her armor, taking comfort in the security its weight provided, and strode back over to the two, intervening before the argument had any chance to escalate to uncomfortable levels. She needed them working together, in case things with Aria went even further south. "Now isn't the time for you two to decide to hate each other again."

Shepard's eyes drifted back to Toombs's body. She knew there was nothing more that could be done now for Toombs, whose body was nothing more than an empty shell. Another name to add to the list of those she had failed over the years. "Garrus is right. We need to move before Aria decides to go to Afterlife without us."

Nyreen let out a humorless laugh. "She's not that suicidal, but probably best not to tempt her."

With Nyreen being the more familiar with this particular area, Nyreen took point and led them out back the way Nyreen and Garrus came, with Garrus bringing up the rear and Shepard between them.

They didn't get too far down the hallway when Shepard felt the stirrings of another electric aftershock, one more forceful than the others, almost bringing her to her knees in the same fashion as if she was actually being shocked. She thought she could force herself to shake it off and keep going, but she quickly realized that was not going to be the case. She skidded to a halt so suddenly Garrus almost smacked right into her.

"Can we stop for a second? Just need to sit for a moment." She was already reaching out for the broken plaster that once resembled a smooth wall.

Nyreen turned back, analyzing her unsteady form and recognizing Shepard's need. "Of course, Commander."

"Thanks." Shepard would have collapsed unceremoniously onto the floor if not for Garrus's guiding hand on her arm helping her onto the ground. She breathed a shaky sigh of relief as she relaxed against the wall while the spasms had time to subside.

"So how did you both even find me?" she asked, wiping away the sweat on her clammy brow. No point in sitting around quietly in an awkward silence, twiddling their thumbs.

"It wasn't hard to notice you were missing once the smoke finally cleared and all Cerberus combatants were killed. Then when Zuhayr commented on something about Toombs, it didn't take much to put two and two together. From there, it was just a matter of tracing you, courtesy of hidden tracking chips put in all his mercs' armor. Though Aria had to twist his arm to get him to admit it to us and allow us access to the tracker."

"With how paranoid Zuhayr is, someone must have suspected their every move was monitored."

"Apparently the chips are completely undetectable. If anyone did notice, they kept silent. Or _were_ silenced."

Fair guess to say Toombs never knew about that. Or he had been too far gone to care.

"As it turned out, he didn't end up taking you too far. And when we heard what sounded like human screams, we knew we were close."

Had she been in that much pain to cry out so loudly the sound carried that far? Did it travel into vents somewhere?

"So where exactly is Aria now?" Shepard asked, shifting against the wall so she was more comfortable and a jagged edge wasn't stabbing her skull.

"She and Bray went to take care of the bombs while Zuhayr and his mercs went to meet up with the Talons. We're still meeting up with everyone at the markets." She didn't sound too pleased about that plan one bit.

Shepard forced herself to keep as still as possible when another aftershock popped up, waiting until it passed to speak. "I know you don't trust Zuhayr anymore than I do. You didn't have to come and find me."

Nyreen vigorously shook her head. "The Talons can handle their own. Besides, wouldn't have felt right if I hadn't helped get you back."

"I appreciate it."

Nyreen nodded while reaching behind her, earning a curious glance from Shepard when Nyreen unhooked her assault rifle.

"I'm going to go scout ahead," she explained. "Make sure we don't…ah, get set upon again." Shepard knew full well Nyreen wouldn't try to actively seek out Adjutants, unless…could Nyreen be giving her and Garrus the chance to talk privately, even after Garrus and Nyreen's little heated argument?

"Good idea," Shepard said instead. "I should only need a few minutes."

"I'll be back in a moment, then."

Once Nyreen had rounded the corner, Garrus knelt beside Shepard, watching as she experienced another aftershock.

"Are you sure you're ok?" That sounded more like her Garrus, thought still too reserved for her liking.

"Yeah, I'm alright, nothing I couldn't handle." She could taste the lie of her words on her tongue. It had been nerve-wracking, mind-numbing, but no need to say it aloud when her cries had probably done all the talking for her. "Thanks for coming for me."

His gaze fell away, but not before she caught the tenderness swirling within his orbs. "I'd never leave you behind." His arm twitched, like he wanted to touch her, wrap a warm arm around her, but he chose to right himself back up again. She tried not to look too disappointed.

If she was honest with herself, she wanted to latch onto one of his armored legs, force him back down and clutch onto his body, but she was stronger than that, damn it. It wasn't the time to get touchy-feely, as Joker would say.

That didn't make the longing any less.

An uncomfortable silence descended upon them with ferocity, both knowing what needed to be discussed, but neither wanting to start it. But she couldn't let this short amount of time Nyreen allotted to them go to waste.

Shepard gave into her age old habit of biting her lip as she steeled herself. "Look, Garrus, what happened with Toombs…"

"I know you want to talk about it, but I don't." The half shiver, half spasm working its way through her body had nothing to do with another dose of aftershocks and everything to do with the familiarity of those words, said by the very same turian who had allowed his former brother-in-arms to walk away from him. Everything to do with the bellicose tone of Archangel escaping his throat. How suddenly he had switched between the two personalities.

"I really think we need to," Shepard insisted.

"What's there to say? I know you don't approve of what I became while on Omega, but I'm not going to apologize for what I did to Toombs."

Shepard frowned at his increasing abrasiveness. "He was down, Garrus. You didn't have to beat him within an inch of his life. It was just senseless violence."

"And he didn't deserve it after what he did to you? What he almost did to you?"

That same argument again. "If you truly believed that, you wouldn't have given me my gun back." He wasn't the only one who could read his mate like an open book. She knew he was conflicted. She could sense it, even if he wouldn't openly admit it. It almost seemed like he didn't want to be Archangel anymore but couldn't resist the temptation to don his mask again,

"You think it's that easy? This was my life for two years. I can't just let that part of me go, pretend it never happened." Garrus was losing the battle for dominance. Archangel was making a comeback.

"You were doing well enough before you came back here. Isn't that what you told Petrovsky?" She disregarded Garrus's deep scowl, knowing she was right and he knew she was right. Everything would have been fine if he had never set foot back on this asteroid station. "And you get on me for keeping things to myself…you know I'd have understood if you'd told me you were struggling."

She wasn't prepared for the next words to spew forth from Garrus, even if was as Archangel. "No, you wouldn't. You make it all sound so simple, you always have! You can navigate through the grey like Joker piloting the Normandy. You've never hesitated on anything!"

Even now, was that how he saw her? Did he truly put her on so high a pedestal? See her as nothing more than a symbol? Super-human?

The hurt at his words wasn't as deep as before, but they still stung her. Shepard forced herself to push it back. It was Archangel saying this, she reminded herself. If she was going to help Garrus assume control over himself again, she'd have to tell him. Not about Toombs, but something else she rarely spoke about, avoided even thinking about.

It was the only way.

"You know about my background," Shepard started, running a hand through her hair, grimacing at how matted down with filth it was. "How I grew up on Mindoir, lost my parents in the raid sixteen years ago?"

She saw Garrus nod slowly, uncertain where she was going with this.

"It's taken a long time to get over my distrust of batarians. Hell, I'm still not entirely sure I'm 100% there. I saw all of them as monstrosities, willing to slaughter anyone who got in their way. After what I saw done on Mindoir, I believed they deserved no quarter, no mercy. No race or group of people has earned my hatred more. And that's saying something. With Cerberus. Even the Reapers.

"Early on in my career, any mission I went on involving batarian mercenaries, I always shot first, asked questions later. One even offered to surrender once. And I didn't want to hear it. I shot him on the spot, never stopping to ask myself whether he wanted to be there in the first place, whether he had a family he had to feed and clothe. Nobody ever questioned my attitude. Tensions were so high with the batarians back then, almost everyone in the Alliance felt the same. I mellowed with age, but barely. Even as the years passed, Mindoir was never too far from memory."

She still kept her gaze straight ahead, switching between biting her lip and wetting it with her tongue while she collected herself. She was thankful Garrus wasn't trying to interrupt. "Then that incident with Balak happened over Terra Nova three years ago. Charn and his ilk were the first ones I ever let walk, only because we were short on time, not because I wanted to avoid bloodshed. Balak…I wouldn't let him go, I swore. But when we finally cornered him, remember how he told us either let him go to save the lives of Kate Bowman and the other hostages or pursue him at the expense of their lives?"

She faltered again as the memories of that moment came rushing back to her. "I can't even begin to describe how willing I was to throw away innocent lives in a heartbeat, how much I wanted it. Hunt him down throughout the building. Torture him before he died. Execute him with a bullet to the head then shooting him until his body was completely unrecognizable and riddled with bullets. For the first time, it scared me to my core, how much I took pleasure in the idea of it. In the end, I knew I couldn't do it. Not only for those innocent lives, but because I would be no better if I allowed them to die for my own selfishness. If I allowed my fantasy to come true."

She had never told anyone about it before, preferring to keep it hidden away, locked within her mind where it belonged.

The effect of Shepard's story was instantaneous. Garrus looked the picture of shame at the words emitted from his lips earlier, like he should have noticed Shepard's inner turmoil. Archangel was nowhere to be found. "You never said anything."

"I'm not telling you this to make you feel guilty." That wasn't the intent at all. "It wasn't exactly something I wanted to broadcast to everyone." Satisfied that the tremors had finally subsided, she used her other hand to assist with getting back on her feet. "I'm telling you this because I love you and the honorable turian I know you are. Prove Petrovsky and Aria wrong, show them you are more than just Archangel."

"_Prove me wrong," _she also wanted to say, but there was no need to say it again. He already knew.

This time, Garrus didn't hesitate in reaching out a hand to take one of hers, making her giddier than it really should have. He ran his thumb over her overturned wrist, his touch lingering on her pulsepoint. "I haven't meant to get so out of control, it just…happens. And with Toombs, I…you had me worried…"

_And I didn't know what I'd find when I found you_, his eyes finished for him.

She squeezed his hand. "I know, but that doesn't mean you can let your emotions dictate your actions. I know you know that. It's important to keep Archangel in check, Garrus. Aria has already made it clear too many times today about your safety if you don't." She wasn't even about to mention Aria's recent threat. Who knew how he'd react to that, when his control over his emotions was so fragile. Best to keep that little tidbit to herself.

"I'll try, Jane." His own hand tightened and he showed no signs of letting go of her hand anytime soon. "I _want _to try."

Shepard's ears perked up at the sound of quick footsteps, signaling an end to their private time. Shepard's hand hovered to her pistol holster in case Nyreen was not the one heading towards them, but she lowered it to her side when her eyes confirmed Nyreen's approach, who had her omni-tool active.

"Just don't count on me building your memorial if you get yourself killed," Nyreen spoke to the person in the projected screen of her omni-tool.

The other person's identity became all too clear when the person replied with an air of flirtation, "I like it when you're feisty."

Nyreen's mandibles twitched similar to a human's lips crinkling at the edges of a small smile before closing the omni-tool and focusing her attention on the two of them.

"Good to see you're doing better, Commander." Her eyes pointedly fell on Garrus's and Shepard's still joined hands, but didn't say anything.

"What's going on?" Shepard asked.

"Aria and Bray made it to the columns, but are encountering heavy resistance. They need back-up."

"Understood. I should be alright from here on out." And even if she wasn't, she'd force herself to keep moving. Not like she had much choice.

Even though Garrus had to let go of her hand, he stayed much closer to her side than he had since their first heated argument back at the Talon base as they moved out, back to the area they had met up with Zuhayr and his mercs, then to the elevator that would take them towards the Gozu District.

Baby steps, she reminded herself. Baby steps until this was all over and they were safe and sound on the Normandy.

* * *

They met up with some of Aria's own forces along the way, who had taken care of some Cerberus stragglers. They directed the trio towards the maintenance tunnels, leading them to a water treatment facility, a steady roar of water tumbling out of a large pipe resounding throughout the area. All they had to do was follow the trail of Cerberus corpses and destruction left in Aria's wake.

"Guess we're on the right track," Garrus remarked dryly.

"The blood splattering the floor and all the bodies give it away, Vakarian?"

"Just a bit."

At least they were back to being civil.

They made their way over a dam serving as a makeshift bridge one at a time. Though the drop was hardly worth getting jumpy about, Shepard was not about to trip and end up hurting herself right before their final confrontation with Petrovsky. To have made it this far and hurt herself now, not even because of a battle wound but from carelessly tripping was just insulting.

The dam had not only provided them with a path, but as Shepard discovered when she crossed and looked over the edge, the water had drained away in the section of the channel to her right, revealing the remains of Aria's old couch that had been carelessly tossed into the water.

The couch was completely soggy and beyond any type of repair, wet stuffing lying in pieces around the couch or poking at the seams in the more intact parts of the couch.

"Shame the General tossed it. That was a good couch. She had it for quite some time, did some of her most infamous back room dealings sitting on it. Couldn't picture Afterlife without it," Nyreen said at the sight of it.

Shepard finished typing away the coordinates to Harrot the elcor shopkeeper. "Surprisingly comfortable cushions too."

"Have to hand this to her," Garrus admitted just as dryly as before, leaning over the railing for a glimpse of it. "She really set the bar for future rulers. Anyone can look dominant on a throne, but a couch takes skill."

"Nyreen, where the hell are you? What part of being over-run did you not get?"

"She never was one for being patient," Nyreen muttered to them before getting on the line with Aria and informing her they had just crossed the dam in the water treatment facility and were still en-route.

"Make it quick! The main console's been disabled and the bombs just went online; they have to be disabled manually!"

"That should make things exciting," Shepard replied, heading to open the locked door nearby.

Central support didn't end up being too far from their location. They didn't encounter Cerberus resistance, just more prone bodies on the floor courtesy of Aria and Bray. Access to the support columns involved sliding down a narrow hatch, landing them in front of a spinning fan. Shepard wasted no time in shutting it down and raising the barrier to allow them access into the room. The columns stretched from catwalk to the high ceiling, though the area was certainly smaller than the area containing the reactor. Less room to maneuver too.

"About damn time!" Aria was just ahead, winding her arm back and lobbing a flare at an assault trooper like it was a fast ball. "Bray and I've been able to disable two, but we couldn't push through to the others."

"I'll handle it," Shepard volunteered, brushing aside her annoyance at Aria's attitude. What did she think, they had been taking a casual stroll? "Everyone just keep them off me."

Utilizing tactical cloak, she helped Bray push back against two rampart mechs and a Centurion that had him pinned down. She waited until her omni-tool re-charged and activated it again, rushing to the two columns at the other end of the room, ignoring the shout in her ear from Aria that they only had another minute before denotation.

With tactical cloak and three extra people to fight, it didn't take long to disable the remaining bombs and secure the area. They re-grouped to the console at the center of the room.

"We're clear. No sign of additional soldiers in the area," Nyreen said, examining her radar via her omni-tool once the last assault trooper fell.

"Excellent. Bray, go back and meet up with our forces, assuming they haven't gotten themselves killed."

"We passed some of them on the way here, by the elevator," Nyreen offered, pointing back at the way they came.

"Understood. We'll keep Cerberus off your back." Bray swore. Before he left, he surprised Shepard by expressing his gratitude for her help earlier. She certainly hadn't expected that, his contempt for her before loud and clear. Nonetheless, she appreciated it.

"Well, looks like you're no worse for wear," Aria said coolly, looking Shepard over top to bottom, seeing no obvious signs of physical damage.

Shepard holstered her pistol a little more forcefully than necessary, letting her frustration get the better of her. "Besides being violently shocked to the point of electrocution, almost turned into an Adjutant by my former corporal, and suffering from aftershocks, you're right. Glad to see you were _so _concerned about me, Aria."

"Somebody had to take care of these bombs," Aria shot back, her own irritation shining through on her face, glittering intensely in her greyish eyes. "I knew you could handle yourself, especially once those two volunteered to find you. You're still in one piece, aren't you? That's all that matters."

Logically, it was true. If someone hadn't gone for the bombs, they would have ignited. And she had convinced Zuhayr to help with the tracking chips, but still, would it have killed Aria to show some type of concern after being drugged and kidnapped? She wasn't asking Aria to hug her tightly and gush over her and shower her with concern. Though at this point, Shepard should have been fortunate Aria even bothered with that little bit and that she was still on speaking terms with Aria.

She had to channel that infamous patience of hers. She was on too thin ice with Aria. She didn't want it to crack and give way.

Shepard crossed her arms. "I understand I have you to thank for putting pressure on Zuhayr about the tracking chips."

Aria nodded, the irritation fading away. "Thought it would make things easier, in case Toombs gave you more trouble than you could handle. I assume Toombs is dead, then? Zuhayr wasn't particularly happy when he found out he was missing."

"He was infected by an Adjutant," Nyreen answered for Shepard. "Shepard was forced to kill him."

"Still with the Adjutants, Nyreen? Still they frighten you?" Aria had noticed the dismay in Nyreen's sub-harmonics and was not above commenting on it.

"It's not something I can just get over, Aria."

"You may have to. It's not over yet. Knowing Petrovsky, he'll bring out everything at his disposal to stop us and I wouldn't be surprised if Adjutants showed up." Aria pressed two fingers against her communicator at her ear. "Zuhayr, things are under control here. What's your situation?"

At first the only reply that came through was the crackle of static.

"Zuhayr, come in, what's your status?" Aria repeated more forcefully.

The second time they finally received a response. "We're advancing through the Gozu district. We just met up with the Talons a few minutes ago," Zuhayr stated, still through a weak connection.

They were making good progress, it seemed.

"Keep the right flank covered and move forward. No matter the cost," they heard him bark, presumably to his mercs.

"What kind of resistance have you met up with?"

They overheard spurts of intense gunfire and an explosion from a grenade close by in the background for a moment before he replied. "Does that answer your question, Aria?"

"I don't have time for bullshit, Zuhayr. Give me actual facts. I need to know what resistance we'll face."

"Reports of casualties are coming in from all sectors. The heat on us is starting to lie off, now that Cerberus has started targeting the civilians."

"And you've just let them?" Nyreen asked, revolted at Zuhayr's callousness.

"What concern are they of mine?" His heartless tone only grew stronger, filling Shepard with repugnance from head to toe.

Shepard then cast a cautious glance over at Garrus, whose body had gone still and eyes becoming pinpoints of rage. Only when he saw her looking at him did he take a deep breath, force himself to relax, to keep Archangel reined in.

"Keep pushing and head for the rendezvous point," Aria stated, disregarding her companions' appalled reactions. "We'll meet you there."

"Understood. Zuhayr out."

Shepard felt the beginnings of another tremor, fighting back a curse at her luck. Of course they couldn't be like the ones with the Leviathan that just left her with a cold feeling and didn't cripple her. "So how exactly do we get to Afterlife from here?" Shepard asked, struggling against her knees buckling. Being still seemed to help, like it had when the cuffs were on her.

"I'm thinking the straightforward approach, for a change." Winding up for another biotic throw, she launched the biotic ball of energy at the still running fan, which came to a grinding halt, allowing them access to the locked door it had blocked.

Aria led the way forward to unlock the door while Shepard waited a moment until the aftershock fully ceased to move to follow the others. She swore she saw Aria studying her critically out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked up at her, all she saw was the back of Aria's head and hair tentacles.

The final stretch, Shepard reminded herself once she was ready to move. It wouldn't be much longer now.

The thought of collapsing on her couch with a very strong drink after a mission had never been more appealing.


	13. -13-

A/N: I'm finally back after a long five weeks without an update. Hopefully you're all still with me. Finding time to write now that I have a job has been difficult to say the least, but now that I'm settling into more of a routine, I can try and get back to an update every two weeks. A big thank you to bella, Calasin, Blausen, a Guest reviewer, and guardianesmi for your reviews last chapter, and for those who favorited or followed this story! Means more than I can put into words.

* * *

-13-

The slums district looked just as she remembered it. Desolate, grimy, and a stench of death stubbornly clinging to the air. Except this time, death wasn't caused by some invisible enemy waiting to invade the body and lay siege. Their enemy was quite tangible, more easily fought than a virus which struck with silent lethality and completely at random.

"I liked it better when Mordin Solus was here shooting up looters," Aria remarked to no one in particular, glancing down the hallway both directions for any sign of enemy activity.

"Mordin is dead," Shepard said flatly, sharing a look with Garrus as she said it. She should have tried harder to stop him, find a way to cure the genophage without his sacrifice being a key to its success, but deep down, she knew.

He wouldn't have had it any other way.

Someone else might have gotten it wrong.

"Pity. He was a very practical kind of salarian," Aria said, sounding as regretful as she could possibly ever hope to be.

"And the very model of a scientist salarian too," Shepard thought with a sad smile. Wherever he was now, she hoped it had a beach for him to run tests on seashells.

They encountered some Cerberus forces ahead, along with the fire pits that were blazing just as brightly as during the plague the year before. The smell of burning flesh was long gone, only the sulphur from the burning embers remained to mix with the foul smell that had followed them all through their journey in the district.

Once Cerberus was taken care of, they continued their push, stairs leading them to a bunch of civilians under the protective guard of the Talons.

"Friendlies inbound…it's the boss," a turian Talon waved to one of his mercs who still had his gun up at the ready.

"What's the situation here?" Nyreen asked, approaching them, assuming the role of their fearless and poised leader.

"Trying to keep Cerberus off their backs, ma'am. A line of them almost pushed through when Zuhayr showed up with his mercs. He's waiting for you by the elevator." The turian motioned down the hall.

Shepard had been fully expecting Zuhayr to have gone on without them, either to gain the advantage or lay a trap, but then she remembered, what he had told them back at Garrus's old base, the words that had shaken her to her core.

He was very good at waiting.

As they made their way through the area, the stench of death was being overpowered by the scent of sweat and palpable fear. The old batarian preacher she had passed quite frequently on her visits to Omega was in full form, preaching to these people looking to find faith in a time that didn't lend itself to having it about their salvation being at hand. They must repent, he insisted with raised arms towards the ceiling. The end was nigh.

Not if Shepard had anything to say about it.

"It almost looks the same as before," Shepard heard Garrus murmur with a despondent note beside her. Whether he had meant to say it outloud or not, she wasn't sure, but she was the only one who had heard it. Hard to disagree with that assessment or his discouragement (not that Garrus was completely right; he had made some difference in the peoples' lives on Omega as Archangel). Nothing did look much different, except people were probably in more fear of their lives.

Were they just going from being under the thumb of one ruler to the next? Would they truly be making the lives of the civilians better by putting Aria back in charge? But they had little choice. Their course was set. It was too late to turn back now.

They reached the elevator and found Zuhayr standing nearby, just as the merc said. Two Talon mercs stood close by, guarding a rudimentary barricade set up by the elevator. Though they seemed to be spending more of their time keeping tabs on Zuhayr rather than what could pop out from the elevator. When they spotted Nyreen, they offered a relieved salute.

"Took your sweet time to get here." Zuhayr took a long puff from the cigarette he had been enjoying, held between the pointer and middle finger of his left hand.

"In case it escaped your notice, Cerberus is still putting up a major defensive." Aria examined Zuhayr's men, as if to examine their physical stamina. "Not bringing any of your men? You're awfully trusting. Quite unlike you."

He flicked the cigarette to the ground. "Is there a reason I shouldn't be?"

"Of course not, just curious," Aria said, not missing a beat.

"I sent them to shore up defenses around the district, keep Cerberus from reaching Afterlife to provide back-up to the General. Encounter the Adjutants roaming around?"

Shepard felt Nyreen stiffen beside her. She had done so well with that one earlier. Would anything permanently take away her fear?

"Yes. It was just like we thought. The idiots were experimenting with them."

The four of them had stumbled upon another one of those rooms like the one Toombs had taken Shepard to, with the same type of malfunctioning tanks. The console played a recording, looped to play over and over again with a nasally, monotone sounding man as the narrator. After fiddling around with the controls on the panel, they discovered two other video logs. Toombs had been right. Omega's civilians were taken against their will to become living, breathing test tubes. Transformed into Adjutants for Cerberus to control by fusing controls into the victims' nervous systems so the Adjutants would be completely under their sway.

Business as usual with Cerberus and subverting science.

"We have to put out a warning to the civilians, Aria. Bad enough with Cerberus attacking them, but if there are Adjutants around here…they'll be slaughtered."

"It won't be much longer. Once Afterlife is under my control again and Petrovsky's dealt with, I can send the message out." Shepard might have been wrong, hearing things that weren't there after this seemingly endless day, but it almost sounded like Aria was making a genuine attempt to placate Nyreen.

Maybe…maybe there was more grey to Aria. Maybe Shepard had been right, afterall.

Zuhayr pressed the elevator button door behind him, the door opening with a hiss. "Shall we?" he asked, with a sweeping gesture of his arm.

Everyone piled into the elevator, with Nyreen being the last, giving orders to her men standing nearby to be on the lookout for Adjutants and warn others in the area about them.

With five people in there, it was a little cramped. Shepard made sure to put as much distance between her and Garrus and Zuhayr as possible. After what she had seen, the sheer brutality towards that man who had betrayed him, she couldn't, _wouldn't_, trust Zuhayr. And if she was honest with herself, it was too close to home, too close to what she had seen done to the colonists on Mindoir. To her parents.

The elevator crawled, much to Aria's irritation. Though she didn't say anything, her bouncing from foot to foot and constant tapping of her fingers against her crossed arms were dead giveaways.

"Impatient?" Zuhayr asked from his corner of the elevator.

"This has been a long time coming. Surely you can understand that."

Stifling silence descended upon the group again. Would this elevator ride ever end? This was just as bad as the ones on the Citadel.

Her skin suddenly began to crawl, like bugs inching their way up and down her body. At first she thought she was having another aftershock (which had mercifully ceased for the moment), but it didn't feel the same as the others. She then looked over at Zuhayr and realized why. His gaze was fixated upon her and Garrus.

"How exactly did my brother die?" Zuhayr spoke when his eyes locked onto Shepard's. Shepard doubted the desire to know was out of brotherly concern, despite how indifferent he sounded.

"Why would that matter to you now?" Garrus asked, studying him just as intensely as Zuhayr was on them.

Zuhayr shrugged. "Never got a clear answer. Was it quick…or did he suffer?"

_Like I suffered_, he left unspoken but heavily hinted with fiery eyes.

"Your brother shot him with rockets from a gunship. I used my own rocket launcher on his gunship. So yes, it was quick," Shepard answered.

Zuhayr didn't reply, just an acknowledgement with a nod of his head. His gaze finally broke away from them, but he still looked deep in thought.

Shepard wasn't sure she wanted to know exactly why.

After what seemed like the longest three minutes of Shepard's life, the elevator finally found its way back up top. Once the door opened, only a hallway and a door separated them from the courtyard outside Afterlife. And Petrovsky.

They were so close to the finish line and a couch for Shepard to collapse on in a heap.

A finish line blocked by an Adjutant standing dangerously close in front of the now open elevator door, with another Adjutant further down the hall. The bodies of two Talon mercenaries lay in contorted positions by the door.

"Spirits, not again!" Nyreen cried out over its roar.

Two Adjutants stalking a very tight hall with little to no cover. Why couldn't things be easy for once?

"Don't get boxed in!" Shepard threw an incineration blast to knock the Adjutant back enough to allow them to get out of the elevator. Aria backed her up with a biotic flare.

The Adjutant flew back from the force of the hits, screeching in rage. Aria and Zuhayr bolted from the elevator behind the nearby makeshift barricade to provide some semblance of cover, but Nyreen wasn't making any effort to move. She had frozen up again, eyes wide in barely restrained alarm.

Shepard hurried over to Nyreen, pulling at her arm, literally trying to drag her away, but she wouldn't budge. Not until Garrus came to the rescue and tugged at her other arm. Only then did she move with them as they darted to the second makeshift barricade, mindful not to trip over the Talons bodies on the way. Not that the barricade would protect them against the incoming Adjutant from the other end of the hall.

"Aria, up ahead!"

"We'll take this one, Shepard!" Aria leapt over the barricade, Zuhayr following close behind with his shotgun in hand. They ran past the Adjutant, firing at it as they went and guide it further down the hallway.

Shepard didn't even bother reaching for her pistol, instead going straight for her Widow. Conventional wisdom may have said shooting with a sniper rifle at close range was never a good idea, but conventional wisdom never took into the account the mechanical, tentacle-flaying, parasitic creatures that were Adjutants.

"Bold choice this close to it," Garrus remarked in a tone attempting to be nonchalant yet couldn't hide the hint of admiration as he unhooked his assault rifle.

"Desperate times," Shepard replied, positioning herself for the shot right at its sac. She fired, steadying herself against the kickback that always occurred with this rifle. Just part of the Adjutant's sac erupted, only serving to anger it more.

Nyreen was helping them now, firing at it with her own rifle and her own incinerate. It didn't deter the Adjutant from raising its cannon and firing its projectile at them with little room to maneuver or time to duck. Her armor's shields fizzled when the projectile made impact, audibly cracking with a noise she had become all too familiar with lately. Her shields were fried…again. With everything she had fought and the electric currents from the cuffs, little wonder it hadn't happened sooner.

Apparently Garrus had the same problem. "Shields are fried!"

"Keep up the pressure! It's slowing down!" It was true. It hadn't sprung at them or really moved from its current position. There was even a stagger in its step. She had no idea how Zuhayr and Aria were doing, completely focused on firing another sniper shot, directing the others to throwing everything they had it, determined to bring it down. Until it finally, _finally_, fell to the ground with a flail of its limbs.

"Are you two alright?" Shepard asked, turning to the two. Garrus nodded while Nyreen's gaze fell back to the bodies of her mercs, which Shepard now identified as a human male and another female turian. Like the Cerberus corpses they had seen in the mines, they hadn't been mutated.

"Nyreen?"

"They had no idea. None of what was coming their way," she heard Nyreen mutter as if in a trance. She then shook her head to bring herself back to reality, focusing her attention on Shepard and Garrus. "I'm fine, Commander. Just…apologies for freezing up like that." She gave a bitter laugh. "Still after all this, they still get to me. Can't seem to stop it."

"You didn't when that one attacked Toombs," Shepard pointed out, holstering her Widow back on. Nyreen didn't look placated or comforted by that fact in the slightest, her eyes still troubled and focused on the bodies of her mercs.

"You even managed to sound just like you did when you were giving orders to me back on the _Intrepid._" Shepard was surprised to hear Garrus join in on the pep talk. "I'd say that's a step in the right direction."

That got a flutter of Nyreen's mandibles out of her, the equivalent of a small smile.

"Know for a fact you didn't think so back in the day. Or even now, but thanks, Vakarian," she said, sounding like she meant it. "Both of you. Not sure I believe your faith in me either, but… I appreciate it."

She had it in her. Shepard knew she did. Nyreen still just needed to believe it herself.

A final shriek had everyone's heads whip down the hallway. When silence descended on the area and Aria and Zuhayr rounded the corner, Shepard knew their Adjutant had been dealt with.

"Bastard must have had them at the ready, knew we were close. And those poor fools were in the crossfire."

Shepard swore she heard the hard swallow down Nyreen's throat at Aria's words, but kept silent.

"We should move out, before more turn up." Zuhayr popped his thermal clip. "Ready, Aria?"

Aria followed suit. "You have no idea how ready I've been. In a few minutes, Omega will finally be mine again."

And Shepard's couch. At this point, it was all about curling her body onto that couch back in her cabin. Or the bed. Maybe the bed was the better option.

As they moved out, Shepard sent a slantwise glance to Garrus, who gave her an encouraging nod. He would be right beside her.

The courtyard outside Afterlife was a ghost town. Corpses of civilians lay scattered around, whether from Adjutants or Cerberus, Shepard couldn't tell. It didn't matter. They didn't deserve this fate. They didn't ask for this to happen. They would put it right.

Once the doors to Afterlife opened, Aria lost all sense of propriety (if she even had any to begin with), blasting the Cerberus assault troops standing there, completely caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the group. She rushed to the door, hurriedly unlocking it with a violent wave of her omni-tool.

Then the door opened, unveiling Afterlife. How different it looked, with all the tables and couches gone (pushed into the hallway they had just come through), no asari dancing in scantily clad outfits to a pulsing beat that got the blood pumping, no patrons enjoying a drink or two under Aria's watchful eyes. A different pair of eyes had replaced hers, in the form of a Cerberus general who was watching their approach from his perch above them. Right where Aria's old couch would have been.

"So you finally arrive. I knew you'd find a way through. How many people had lost their lives because you forced my hand? Shame everyone's had to suffer for your petty ambitions."

Aria's biotics flared in the curling palms at her side. "You're a dead man, Petrovsky!"

Shepard heard Nyreen cry out for Aria to wait, but it went unheeded as Aria went for Petrovsky in a half lunge, half sprint. So focused on tearing Petrovsky in half, she didn't see what she was bounding over to get to him, activating the moment she passed over it. Aria let out a surprised yelp as the stasis field coiled around her wrists and ankles, stretching her out.

"What now, Petrovsky?" Shepard demanded to the man who was literally oozing with smugness and contempt. This wasn't over, no matter what he thought.

"Divide and conquer, Commander." Petrovsky stopped there, staring down at them as if waiting for something or someone to take action.

The click of a heavy pistol a moment later had Shepard's stomach churning with dread, especially when she saw the person in question directing it at her not too far away head.

"What the hell are you doing?" That was a pointless question. She knew exactly what he was doing. What she had expected him to do in the first place.

Zuhayr's lip curled, eyes glittering with an intensity that threatened to blind her. Did they ever stop blazing so furiously, so intensely? "What's necessary, Commander Shepard."

With lightening reflexes, before Shepard could even register what was happening, Zuhayr wrenched her back by the collar of her armor and forced her on her knees, the icy muzzle of his Carnifex pressed against her temple. Her Predator fell loosely from her fingers, the sound of it clanking to the ground cementing her shame at being snagged so easily twice in one day.

Garrus had his rifle pointed at Zuhayr in less than a millisecond. "Let go of her, you son of a bitch!"

"Not until you drop your weapons." He pressed the muzzle more firmly into Shepard's head, digging it into her temple. His finger was poised right on the trigger. "Or do we have to do this the hard way, Archangel?" Though he sounded like he wanted nothing more than to do it the hard way.

Her eyes stayed focused on Garrus, waiting to see what he'd do, whether Archangel would fire or charge at Zuhayr (like she had been tempted to do before, which was sort of hypocritical but she wasn't having to struggle with two battling personalities) or Garrus would heed his words. Cobalt eyes never leaving hers, Garrus lowered his rifle to the floor. She honestly didn't know whether to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight or worry that he could now be defenseless if Zuhayr got an itchy trigger finger.

"You two-timing bastard," Nyreen threw at him as she let go of her own rifle. Only once Zuhayr was satisfied Garrus and Nyreen wouldn't dive for the guns did he let go of Shepard's collar.

"We had a fucking deal, Zuhayr!" Aria's enraged cry echoed through the room over the hum of the stasis field as she struggled to free herself from the oppressive chains clamped at her wrists and feet.

"Do you take me for a fool? I know you, Aria. You had no intention of giving Archangel to me or even helping me; your alliance with Shepard is too important. You feed me honeyed words about how Archangel is mine once this is all over, but knowing you send me to my death once I attack. All to ensure someone completely loyal to your cause is in charge and won't be a threat." He hadn't raised his voice once throughout his monologue, which unnerved Shepard more than powerful bellows ever could. "I've waited ten years to seize control and I'm not about to relinquish it now."

Shepard's mind was reeling from the implications of all this. Aria had lied, to her and Zuhayr. Aria had never had any say in Garrus's fate, not when she told Zuhayr he was free for the taking, even if that itself was a lie. Should she feel relieved that Aria hadn't really turned her back on her or angry that she was willing to use Garrus like this?

Probably needed to be more concerned about their current situation at the moment. Save Aria, deal with Zuhayr and Petrovsky, then sort out emotions later.

"That man you killed, who was going to Cerberus…he didn't need to die!" Shepard ground out, her body beginning to shake. Not another aftershock. Not now.

"He was technically going against my orders, even if no one knew the truth. A message needed to be sent. No one betrays me."

"Betrays _you_?! You are dead when I get out of here, Zuhayr! Do you hear me?!" Aria screamed, writhing around in her confines. "You are fucking dead!"

"Forgive me if I don't seem concerned," he allowed himself to sneer at Aria's back.

The tremors didn't last long, allowing Shepard to think clearly again, of a way out of this. She looked back up at Petrovsky, who was doing nothing more than towering above them, soaking in his seeming victory.

"You see, Commander? It's all about lining up the pawns to your advantage. Then you strike, one by one until nothing is left but the king. Completely defenseless and ripe for the taking."

Nothing more than a game of chess.

Petrovsky pushed a few buttons at his console and three Adjutants revealed themselves like magic at the other end of the room. "You all killed the Adjutants we hadn't finished experimenting on. These…are fully under our control. The prototypes for our future army."

One of the Adjutants pounced forward, beating its chest like a warrior off to battle. It was just waiting for the order to attack. Which it received, alongside Cerberus troopers dropping in.

So focused on the Adjutants and Petrovsky, she didn't notice Zuhayr until he had his pistol pointed directly at Garrus, who had let his guard down and was just as focused on the Adjutants and Petrovsky as she had been. His shields were fried, just as hers were. She had no more medi-gel left and she had no idea how much the others had. She had spotted the icon on Zuhayr's gun. Enhanced armor-piercing ammo. His pistol aimed directly at Garrus's chest.

It came back to her in a rush, the image of him lying on the ground at his base with all that blood. His eyes struggling to stay open, his gasping breaths signaling his fight to cling to life. She had come so close to losing him, before she had even realized how much he meant to her.

It wouldn't happen again.

Not here. Not from a shot by a batarian.

Willing every ounce of strength into her legs, she bolted towards Garrus, pushing him down to the ground just as Zuhayr took his shot.

She didn't feel anything right away, her body too stunned by the force of the shot piercing through her, wounded in the same spot her father was when he tried to protect his family.

Her knees gave way as she crumbled, hitting the floor with a loud thump. She clutched at her now weeping gut in a vain attempt to stop the flow of blood. All the while she heard Garrus shout her name in a fusion of panic, rage and a desperate trill of his sub-flang over the sound of her panting breaths and sporadic gunfire being traded back and forth.


	14. -14-

A/N: Greetings, my beloved readers! Real life dictated this be finished in three weeks instead of two (for anyone reading _Doppelgänger_, next chapter probably won't be out for another week), but as always, thank you all for your support (really, really appreciate it!) and continuing to read this story despite my inconsistent updates.

Also, thank you to Bella, Blausen, Calasin, a guest reviewer, guardianesmi, and silvertongued-witch for your reviews last chapter and to those who favorited or are following this story.

* * *

-14-

Shepard didn't know how long she lay there on the floor or where Garrus and Nyreen ended up. Time seemed to hold no meaning, the sounds of gunfire, shouts and screeches seemed to blend together in a deathly harmony that would have been painful to the ears if not for them slightly muffling the sound.

She vaguely questioned if this was what it felt like, as she continued to press her fist against her gut as a crude tourniquet. For her father. Did the wound feel as finite, life ending?

A shadow came over her, blocking the fiery red neon lights above her. She wondered if it was death finally came to take her to the place of rest, but the grim reaper wouldn't grasp her shoulder so gently, call her name in a mix of distraught tenderness.

"Garrus..." she croaked. Her eyes were still a little blurry, unable to properly make out the concern in his bluish-grey eyes.

"How long can you hold that barrier, Kandros?"

"How long did you need?" she heard Nyreen call back. Shepard could see it now, the biotic protector encasing them. Through from what her brain could sort out, it wasn't deterring the troopers or Adjutants from firing at it.

"Enough to get some medi-gel on her."

She found the strength to shake her head persistently, even if they were just short jerks of her head side to side. "No...you might need it..." Even in her haze, she recognized that was probably his last one. He couldn't sacrifice it for her, not when it wouldn't do more than patch up the wound, not when she really needed proper medical attention.

Without replying, he carefully removed the hand at her wound, the blood flowing more freely without anything pressing against it, to apply the medi-gel. His eyes widened and his mandibles slackened at the sight.

"Spirits, Jane…" He broke off, closing his eyes as he did so, exposing the emotional pain he was fighting to keep back. "I told you you're worth more than this."

"No," Shepard forced herself to spit out. "_You're_ worth more…always will be." This wasn't the time or place for such intimate admittances, given the high volume of projectiles they had directed at them, but it had to be said, in case things really did go to hell.

Garrus was barred from replying by Nyreen's urgent cry. "They're pressing! We need to find cover for her!"

"She's not stable yet!"

Shepard saw Nyreen spare a moment to glance down at her and take in Shepard's condition for herself. "Can you carry her if I cover you?"

"Guess we're about to find out."

Garrus went about to scooping Shepard into his arms, one arm under her knees, the other near her shoulders, with a grunt. She was amazed he could even lift her at all. She knew he was strong, but her armor wasn't exactly made from the lightest material in the galaxy, not to mention the sniper rifle she had attached to her back.

"Now, Kandros!" At Garrus's call, Nyreen dropped the protector, harnessing the biotic energy to send the approaching enemies spiraling off their feet. Garrus bolted as fast as was feasibly possible, due to both the hindrance of her weight and not wanting to jostle her around. She could feel the medi-gel start to work, closing up the wound, taking the edge off. But she still felt like a woman who had been dealt a serious gunshot wound.

"Get me out of here, Nyreen! Now!" She heard Aria yell above the din of gunfire. In her daze, she had almost forgotten Aria was still trapped. They needed to shut down the power generators to the stasis trap. There had to be override controls somewhere. If Aria was back on the battlefield, she could compensate for the loss of Shepard, especially with how fueled with rage Aria was.

By some miracle, Garrus got her to one of the upper levels, lowering her down behind the shelter of a booth seat that hadn't been removed from Afterlife, shooting at an assault trooper that had rounded the corner with a pistol that looked suspiciously like Shepard's.

Once Nyreen made it to their position, she continued providing them with cover until they could devise a plan.

"We have to get Aria out of there. The override controls aren't too far," Nyreen informed, tossing a lift grenade at a Nemesis setting up her sight line not too far away.

"I can get them open…" Shepard offered. Now that the fog from her brain had cleared a little more, if she kept it slow and easy, had her tactical cloak on at all times, she could…

"You'll re-open the wound doing that," Garrus countered, giving her the same look he had when she volunteered to get into that underwater mech to find the Leviathan. "I'll take care of it. Kandros can stay with you."

"Not to mention with those Adjutants roaming around," Nyreen added, sounding just as uncertain and uncomfortable with leaving Shepard alone.

"Can fry them and shoot them…got my bases covered," Shepard said, regaining some strength back in her voice. "We can't leave Garrus without back-up."

"There are no gunships this time. I should be fine," Garrus replied, pausing to take shots at more Cerberus troopers.

_No, just Zuhayr_. Archangel hadn't yet made an appearance (being too focused on helping Shepard), but once Zuhayr showed his face and came out from whatever rock he was hiding under…

Another cry of pained rage had their attention back on Aria, who was flailing around in her confines as another surge of power raced through the stasis field.

"She doesn't have much time. We have to get her out of there. You sure you got this?" Nyreen asked Garrus.

"Faced worse, remember? There's only four. Shouldn't take too long with someone of my skills," Garrus stated, bringing full cockiness to the forefront.

Nyreen shook her head. "You're still a cocky bastard, Vakarian, you know that, right?"

"How could I forget with you bringing it up every second of every minute back in the day?" Garrus turned back to Shepard, the look in his eyes clearly showing he wanted to do more than squeeze her shoulder like he was currently doing but knew it wasn't the time.

"Stay with me, Jane. Please," he murmured in a tender voice he reserved just for her, that never failed to make her feel all warm inside.

Shepard's lips morphed into a cross between a reassuring smile and a smirk, laying her hand over his and giving it a squeeze of her own. "Think I'm going to leave you…take all the credit for kicking Reapers' asses…and taking the final kill shot? Don't think so, Vakarian."

That got a small chuckle out of Garrus, even if it was still forced, fraught with tension. "I wouldn't hog all of it. I'd share it with Vega."

"That's good to know…you're still capable of sharing."

Garrus squeezed her shoulder again. "I'm willing to share my title of the bottle shooters with you."

"Can only be willing…if you actually have the title. Lucky for you…I'm all for sharing."

All the time they hid the seriousness of their situation, again dancing around how they were currently feeling, behind good ole'fashioned bantering, Shepard's eyes were doing no such thing, conveying a message completely different from the one leaving her mouth.

_Don't lose yourself. Kill Zuhayr like any other enemy opening fire, but don't butcher him, even if he deserves nothing less. You're a better man than he could ever hope to be. You promised me you'd try. You promised me you'd try to be safe. Please prove me right._

By the look of understanding flooding Garrus's eyes when he studied hers, she knew she got the message across.

Whether he would listen to her or not was a different matter entirely.

Garrus handed Shepard her pistol back, then reached behind him for his Mattock.

"Holler over the comm if you get swamped."

"Sure you'll be able to tell when no hostiles are coming at you and flocking towards us," Nyreen paused, as if hesitating on something and then deciding to say it. "Good luck, Garrus."

Garrus's eyes widened in surprise Nyreen calling him by his given name (probably for the first time), but didn't prevent him from replying in kind. "You too, Nyreen."

Shepard watched Garrus dart off to the first override control, then turned back to Nyreen firing at yet another assault trooper. She had never felt more useless during a battle. Bullets and shrapnel had pierced through her armor before, but never this badly. So thoroughly. Whatever ammo Zuhayr used, it was definitely top grade.

"You still doing alright, Commander?" Nyreen asked, flinging an overload blast at a soldier's shields.

"As good as someone shot could be," Shepard replied back dryly.

A violent vibration rocked the floor as one of the stasis shield generators shut off.

"He got one of them. Only three more!"

_Just shoot and run, Garrus. Just shoot and run._

Shepard finally got to use her pistol (which only held a few rounds) at a Nemesis that had snuck into the corner across the way, with a well-placed incineration blast to be safe until Nyreen turned around and finished her off.

Another vibration and shot for Garrus to hurry the fuck up signaled the second one was shut down.

"Two more!"

"Attention, do not kill Commander Shepard. I repeat, do not kill Shepard. I want her alive!"

_A little late for them to have been given that message now, Petrovsky!_

"Keep Vakarian away from those generators!" Petrovsky exclaimed, the rough burr infused with a hint of desperation. He realized it. If Aria was freed, it was over.

It almost seemed too good to be true (excluding the fact Shepard was shot). Could Shepard finally breathe that sigh of relief?

When she spotted Zuhayr appearing from out of nowhere behind Nyreen (who was distracted with an Adjutant down below shooting its projectile at her), she held onto that breath.

"Nyreen! Behind you!"

Despite her best effort, Nyreen couldn't spin around in time to avoid the hammer-like blow to the back of her from Zuhayr's pistol. She collapsed to the floor in a heap nearby Shepard, still as death, but her breath still audible to Shepard's ears.

As Zuhayr approached Shepard, she raised her omni-tool to blast him, but it flew right over his head. Was her aim really that affected or did he just have ridiculously fast reflexes?

"Brave of you, Shepard. You actually followed through. I really don't want to kill you, but can't have you interfering again," Zuhayr said with an eerie calmness, as if there weren't a battle raging on around them.

"You really think you're going to gain something…by picking Cerberus over Aria?"

"Of course not. I have no interest in being a figurehead. Their alliance is a means to an end. All I have to do is bide my time. It's all just part of the game on Omega. Even Aria understands that."

_Try telling Aria that when she rips you in half._

"At the very least, I'm offered the chance to eliminate Archangel, something my brother could never do."

So that's what this was about. It was never completely about rallying his mercs behind him, but besting his dead brother, proving he was a more competent gang leader than he could ever hope to be.

"The battle is lost, Zuhayr. Once Aria is released…your ass will be blasted from one end of Omega to the next," Shepard threatened, attempting to sound intimidating, despite how weak and defenseless she looked and sounded in her current state.

Zuhayr raised his Carnifex, pointing it steady between her eyes. "You're wrong, Commander Shepard. It hasn't been lost." The click of his gun signaled his readiness to take the shot. "The battle has only just begun."

The shot Shepard had been expecting whistled past her ear, grazing it lightly like her cheek earlier that day and burrowing into the couch behind her. Her brain barely registered the sensation, completely focused on the sight of Garrus pulling the pistol back in time and trying to force Zuhayr to the ground, hands locked in a death grip with Zuhayr in a complete hand to hand showdown. Shepard prayed he was as great a hand to hand specialist as he had boasted being.

To her side, she heard Nyreen begin to rouse. She silently urged her to hurry.

"Is this the best you can do, Archangel? I shot her. Don't you want to hurt me?" Zuhayr asked, attempting to get Garrus to rise to the taunt and lose focus. He wasn't buckling, but Shepard had caught a glimpse of that spark Archangel had.

He was coming back.

"Until there's nothing left," Garrus growled, pushing back and planting his feet more firmly in the floor to gain better leverage.

"Yes, that's it." Zuhayr sounded pleased, even as Garrus was gaining the upper hand in their fight and he was curving down towards the floor. "Subdue me, torture me, kill me, like all the others. The power of life or death over someone…intoxicating, isn't it?"

Shepard was about to tell Garrus not to listen to him when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. The very large, bulbous forms of something soon to round the corner.

Could this situation get even worse?

She turned back to find Zuhayr (who seemed much swifter and agile than Toombs had been) able to push Garrus away from him and go for his discarded pistol.

Shepard held her wrist with her other hand to keep her aim steady this time, managing to strike him, but his shields were still plenty charged. She directed another incinerate attack at him, causing to fly in the direction of the stairs, at risk of toppling over.

Garrus hopped to his feet, firing an overload blast at Zuhayr before running into him, forcing him to tumble down the stairs, Garrus following close behind.

Nyreen had shaken the haze away and was back on her feet, firing away at Cerberus lackeys who had momentarily ceased in their attacks, at the same time Aria made sure to remind them she was ensnared with a well-placed yell.

Shepard rotated her head back and forth, finally crawling on hands and knees to see where Garrus and Zuhayr and those Adjutants ended up. Her heart lodged in her throat and showed every sign of staying there when she saw the Adjutants she had spotted earlier changing course towards the still fighting figures of Garrus and Zuhayr…along with three more Adjutants moving in from the other end.

The situation had just found a way to get worse.

"Garrus!" She didn't jump in front of him to take that shot only for him to be surrounded by five, count them, _five _Adjutants. She couldn't get to him in time, even if she could, her aim was off, her body a broken mess. But she couldn't just stand idly by, even if she reopened the wound and bleed to death in the attempt.

Nyreen's gaze fell on the sight down below them and Shepard clawing her way back onto her feet to help Garrus. "Spirits…"

"Nyreen, go and get…the reactors…I'll…argh!" Shepard fell back towards the couch, half her body draping over it as pain shot through her for moving too suddenly. The sweat poured down her cheeks from her damp temples and forehead. "Go help him."

"They're almost on top of him," Nyreen ducked to barely avoid a Nemesis shot from across the room. "They're still two more!"

She was right. The Adjutants were close, close enough to pin Garrus down, yet he still seemed focused on Zuhayr. Or rather, Archangel was.

"God damn it, Garrus, get out of there! Now!" Shepard ordered as loudly as she could, shocked at how obvious the fear in her voice was. But that second of self-consciousness was displaced by a deeper fear growing every second he stayed down there.

If they turned him…she didn't know if she even could…

She turned back to Nyreen, the distress in her voice still apparent, causing it to wobble more than it already was. "Nyreen…please…do something…"

Nyreen looked at Shepard, then back down to Garrus, who had finally broken out of his blood rage to realize what was happening, then back to Shepard, who was having a more difficult time concealing her anxiety. Then over to Aria, her struggles against her restraints weaker than before.

The expression on Nyreen's face was unreadable to Shepard (and she liked to think she had gotten pretty good at interpreting turian facial expressions), but Shepard sensed the air of determination coming over Nyreen, who bolted over to the closest fallen Cerberus soldier and grabbed the line of grenades at his belt.

"What the hell are you doing, Nyreen?"

She didn't answer Shepard, instead plunging head-long into the mess that lay below them.

What happened next passed by in a blur of motion and sound as Shepard tried to keep herself up right enough to watch while protecting herself from flying Cerberus bullets. Shepard heard some shouts, one from Zuhayr, demanding something (whether from Nyreen or Garrus she couldn't tell), Garrus's protestation at Nyreen forcibly pulling him away and having the strength to send him spinning towards the stairs and Aria questioning Nyreen what she thought she was doing.

Without hesitation, Nyreen unpinned the grenades and launched her biotic barrier to trap the five Adjutants had moved into a close enough radius and Zuhayr in with her. The slippery bastard managed to roll away before the barrier enclosed him, but Shepard was too focused on Nyreen and what this all meant to allow the disappointment to hit her.

She turned back up to Shepard, as if she knew Shepard would be watching. Even from Shepard's vantage point, she could see it. Any trace of fear Nyreen had felt from before had been entirely removed. All that was left was acceptance, that this was how it had been meant to end all along.

Shepard continued watching as Nyreen disappeared from view, hidden behind the Adjutants advancing on their supposed victim, just as the grenades detonated.

When the barrier dissipated and the smoke cleared, all that were left were scorch marks on the floor from Nyreen and the Adjutants once stood.

* * *

The battle didn't rage on for much longer. Garrus took care of the remaining generators to free Aria, who wasted no time in butchering anyone who had the Cerberus emblem on their uniform. Petrovsky only released one more Adjutant, which fell more easily than the others they had fought since being on Omega. Probably just a spare, not up to par with the others.

Zuhayr also fled the battlefield, leaving Afterlife, probably recognizing the battle here was over, probably to prepare for his upcoming behind the scenes (or maybe not so behind) with Aria, signaling further misery to come for the people of Omega and further concern for her whether he would try to send someone after Garrus (or even worse if Garrus would try and hunt him down himself). The only thing that comforted Shepard was Zuhayr had shown a major lapse in judgment, playing his hand too soon and setting Aria's sights on him, not allowing him to strike as secretly as he had before with so many others.

But for the moment, as far as Cerberus was concerned, the war had ended with words from Petrovsky that sounded so sweet to Shepard's ears:

"Attention all Cerberus forces...surrender."

She just wished it hadn't been because of Nyreen's sacrifice. It had certainly contributed in changing the tide, but had it been truly necessary?

When she had asked…rather, _pleaded_ Nyreen to do something, she had meant take care of the generators (there had only been two left) or provide back-up for Garrus, pull him out of there, not do a kamikaze run on the Adjutants. Yes, there were a number of them for three to handle along with the barrage of bullets from Cerberus, but had Nyreen felt it was the only way to win? Had she felt she needed to do this to prevent the possibility of anyone else dying at the hands of Adjutants? To prove to herself she could face them without being afraid? Was sacrificing her life worth all that, at the cost of leaving the Talons without a good and incorruptible leader?

Questions that would haunt Shepard to the end and back.

Garrus came back over to her once he had shut the generators down. She had been half tempted to strangle him (followed by a prolonged death grip) for putting her through that and allowing Archangel to run rough-shot over him again, but the deep regret filling his eyes for what Nyreen had done, the knowledge he was a major reason for it (though Shepard would never think it his fault), stopped her. She didn't need to pile on more guilt.

Once the battle was finally over, he helped her to her feet, holding her more tightly to him than usual (still being mindful of her wound). He could have carried her again, but she insisted she could handle being on her feet now (even if she really couldn't), so long as he propped her up. It wasn't too far from Petrovsky's location, even if they had to take their pace very slowly so as not to risk her re-opening the wound (or further damaging any internal injuries). She detected his hesitation on risking her health even further, but even he knew it would be a battle he couldn't win.

Aria had already beaten them to the locked door separating them from Petrovsky in Aria's former lounge area. If she was upset over Nyreen's death, she was doing a good job hiding it. In fact she barely paid the two of them any mind, seemingly pinpointed on her target.

"Cease and desist all aggression..." Shepard heard Petrovsky order his troops as they approached. "It's over..." At least he had the common sense to know when the odds were against him.

Petrovsky turned to face them once everything at his console had been shut off, including the holo-graphic chess pieces on his board a few steps away. She tried to look as imposing as someone who could barely stand on her own two feet, much less walk, could possibly hope to look.

"Officer Vakarian. Commander Shepard. A well-played checkmate. I surrender myself into your custody." His Russian accent was more pronounced than ever before.

Aria strode up to Petrovsky past Garrus and Shepard, the stride of a woman who meant to act before anyone had time to stop her. "That is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard." Her back-handed slap a moment later sent Petrovsky reeling to the floor, struggling to get his bearings.

"Shepard, I never meant for you to be harmed." Shepard had to bite back a scoff. If he didn't mean to have her killed, he would have captured her, sent her packing off to the Illusive Man who would have done who knows what to her. Probably implant her with Reaper tech since that seemed to be a popular thing for him lately. Nor could she easily forget the bounty he had essentially put on Garrus's head for any merc with a gun to take a crack for it.

She could have sworn she felt Garrus's grip tighten on her waist even more at his words. She couldn't tell what he was thinking, whether Archangel was feeding him lies that this was poetic justice or if he was trying desperately to rein Archangel in before he caused more problems.

"I'm unarmed and I can give the Alliance intel on the Illusive Man," Petrovsky insisted.

Aria clenched her hand around his throat and pulled him off the floor, pinning him to a table. "You'll say anything to save your skin." She used both her hands now, trying to choke the life right out of him. Petrovsky attempted to struggle, but Aria would not let go, not after months of fantasizing about this very moment.

"But I let you...escape...Omega," Petrovsky weakly protested through jerky breaths. "I deserve... mercy."

That got Shepard to speak out for the first time. "Is this true, Aria?"

"Yes," Aria said, her gaze still locked on Petrovsky's twitching form. "Cerberus had successfully taken control of the station and he let me go..." Her hands squeezed even harder on his neck, like she wanted to try and snap it in half like a twig. "I'd think he'd agree now that it was the biggest mistake of his life."

"But...this is...murder."

"That's right," Aria said, sounding completely unmoved. "Cold-blooded murder. No less than you deserve. Do you feel that, Oleg? That's death. Only inches away. But I won't give it to you yet. This won't be a quick, easy death. I'm going to make you suffer. "

As she stared down at Petrovsky, she could see it, the vulnerability now that he had finally been bested. Now that this moment was staring her in the face, she couldn't do it. This wasn't right; this wouldn't help them. Even if it cost her her alliance with Aria, all her resources, she couldn't let this happen. Petrovsky would be tried, brought to justice for everything he had done, but he was too valuable. They needed Cerberus intel, now more than ever.

Shepard opened her mouth, mentally preparing herself for a verbal battle she didn't know if she had the grit to fight, but she didn't need to.

"He's more valuable to us alive," Garrus the practical Reaper advisor argued. "The Alliance can use what he knows about the Illusive Man's plans."

"Don't you dare…" Aria breathed, turning her fury onto Garrus. "Don't you dare get in my fucking way. You've done more than enough damage! Need I remind you of what just happened?" The reference to Nyreen was not lost on anyone and Shepard felt Garrus visibly recoil, the wound still raw. So much for Aria not being upset about that.

"He's right, Aria," Shepard added, giving Garrus a moment to recover from that verbal blow.

"You really want to risk it, Shepard?" Her biotics hadn't stopped flaring, leaving that doubt hanging in Shepard's mind whether she would use them against her or Garrus.

"We don't win against Cerberus or the Reapers...you won't be able to reap the benefits of having Omega back. We need...every advantage we can get."

The pause in Aria choking Petrovsky was only momentary, but it was enough for Shepard knew they had her, even if she wouldn't admit it. "He has to pay for what he's done!" she ground out, her tone conveying none of that hesitation.

"He'll get what's coming to him," Shepard promised, "But not today…and not by your hand."

Aria was staring off into the distance, no longer laser-focused on Petrovsky, deep in thought. Until finally, _finally,_ by some miracle,she let go with a frustrated snarl and he fell to the floor, rubbing at his throat and trying to get his breath back.

"I hate you for this, Shepard," Aria said, her heated gaze on Petrovsky and not on them. "You and him."

"We helped you get Omega back."

"Yes, you did…_Archangel_. Which is the only reason I'm allowing you to walk and not kill you on the spot. You have exactly one hour to get off Omega, out of the nebula, and never return. This alliance is over. You knew the price, Shepard," Aria countered brusquely when Shepard opened her mouth to object. "You're not getting a thing from me. I hope the information he provides was worth everything his miserable life cost you."

Shepard waited until Aria was finished to make her case, finding the energy within herself to fight back. "You never had a say with Garrus…yet you're letting him live. You're letting Petrovsky live…"

Aria's eyes narrowed. "Your point, Shepard?"

She had seen the moments of hesitation, however few they were. They were still there. She finally understood, something that hadn't really clicked before. If Aria had really meant to kill Garrus or Petrovsky, she would have done it by now. She wouldn't be doing this unless there was a small part of her that agreed with it. "Do you hate me for stopping you, Aria? Or causing you to question…everything you believed about yourself?"

Aria reeled with indignation, her biotics flaring violently again. Shepard had clearly touched a nerve. "Get out. All of you. I have a station to rebuild. A rebel leader and his mercs to hunt." She looked pointedly at Shepard and Garrus like it was their fault Zuhayr had turned traitor against her (if anyone was at fault for that, it was Petrovsky). "Revenge on any Cerberus troops still breathing."

Shepard readied herself to argue more, but Garrus began walking her away before she could even get another word out. "It's not worth it and you need treatment."

Just as quickly as the energy had come, it deflated in her like a balloon. She nodded in reluctant acceptance and Garrus slowly guided her out of Afterlife, directing Petrovsky up ahead of them. Petrovsky showed no signs of wanting to escape, seemingly accepting his capture with dignity befitting any officer on the losing side of a battle.

A crowd of people awaited them both in and outside of Afterlife and Shepard looked away at their questioning stares at being half carried by a turian and directing Petrovsky away in one piece. She tried not to indulge them, not look at them and focus on keeping her feet moving one step at a time.

They had just passed through the entrance to the docking hangars with the door sealing behind them when she felt another bolt of pain, but this time the result of another tremor. She willed herself to ignore it, that they only had a few more steps until they could get to a shuttle, but her body wasn't having it. The spasm was enough to get her body shaking…and her gunshot wound to reopen.

"Damn it," she hissed as she felt the blood slide down her belly, the metallic smell hitting her nose.

Only to be replaced by the sensation of a cool gel-like substance and the antiseptic smell that came with it hitting the area, from the omni-tool of a batarian who had followed them down there.

"Got to say, you lived up to the hype, Shepard," Bray stated.

"Aria know you're here?" Shepard asked, waiting for the medi-gel to seal the wound.

"Aria's got bigger things to worry about. And I owe you."

Her mind flashed back to saving Bray from those mechs and Centurion. "Appreciate it." She could feel the wound begin to close up again. "Just wondering…you always get these crap details, Bray?" she asked, thinking to how he seemed to be doing was playing chauffeur or guide.

"Not this time." Bray laid Shepard's free arm around his shoulders while he did the same around hers, that little contact something she would have literally recoiled at just the thought of back in the day. Maybe she had progressed, afterall.

During this entire exchange, Petrovsky hadn't said a word, watching in complete silence with rapt attention, making Shepard feel like she was some specimen under his microscope. She focused straight ahead to escape his gaze.

"Let's get you back to your ship," Bray said. "You have a war to win."

Only if she was still in one piece to finish it after all this.


	15. -15-

A/N: I'm back again (again) with a long update! Thanks to everyone reading and your continual interest in this story, to those who have favorited or followed this story, and to Calasin, Blausen, Bloodwitch Raven, a guest reviewer, and Bella for your reviews last chapter!

* * *

-15-

"Commander. Have to say this is a surprise."

Shepard craned her head towards the source of the new voice coming from the entrance of the med-bay, the voice of their imprisoned general she had had called to her bedside, Woodson and Schler (ensigns usually stationed in the shuttle bay) standing guard with rifles firmly in hand.

Dr. Chakwas was usually a calm, patient woman, (except when the Serrice Ice Brandy was flowing freely), but Chakwas had nearly had a conniption when Shepard demanded she speak with Petrovsky not too long after she had woken up from her sedative-induced slumber. Did she want to cause more stress on her already fragile body, Chakwas had all but lectured to her? Just because she had Cerberus implants didn't mean she didn't need to rest like normal people after taking a gunshot wound to the gut.

But Shepard had to do it, now that the Alliance was on their way. She had to speak with him. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly was compelling her to seek Petrovsky out, but ever since she woke up, the itch was there, refusing to go away until it was finally scratched.

A part of her hated Petrovsky would see her like this, lying still on a med-bay cot after being pumped with painkillers, but her pride was not so overbearing she'd shy away from meeting with him because of it.

"Don't assume you know where this is going, General." If he'd hoped for even one second she'd get him out of incarceration, he'd be sadly mistaken. She had already done more than enough for him saving his life at the expense of resources and good terms with Aria.

"Why not? From what I hear, Alliance POWs live fairly comfortable lives." Was that supposed to be a commentary on her own confinement? "Who knows...you and I may even become friends."

"That's not happening," Shepard replied, irked by that air of smug confidence. He was beaten, he clearly knew and accepted that, so why was he still acting like all the cards were in his favor, that he was in a position to take the king again?

Petrovsky crossed his arms behind his back. "So why did you ask me here, Commander?"

Shepard motioned Petrovsky forward, as well as telling the marines to stand down and wait to take him back outside. They looked uneasy at the order, but went when Shepard assured them for a second time she'd be fine (though the disconcerted looks never faded from their faces). The window to the med-bay allowed for easy visibility into the mess and vice-versa. Now being mid to late afternoon, there was a flurry of activity and she swore she spotted Liara, Ash and James out there at one point. Not to mention EDI's constant monitoring. She had plenty of back-up in case Petrovsky decided to take advantage.

_Not that it'll do you much good, Jane, if he suddenly comes at you with a surgeon's knife and everyone else is outside._

Apparently Petrovsky was wondering the same. "Again you surprise me, Shepard. You actually trust me that much?"

"No." Especially not after what he had done as far as Garrus, Zuhayr, and all those Adjutants were concerned. "But I'd like to think you have some type of code, that you won't try and attack a wounded, bed-ridden commander to gain an upper-hand."

Petrovsky sat in the seat that had been placed by Shepard's bedside in case any visitors came by when she was awake, gracefully lowering himself down onto it. "You assume a lot about my character."

"It's what I do. I'm sure you can understand, spending all your time trying to predict everyone's movements."

"A good general would be remiss doing otherwise. One does not go into battle without understanding an enemy's motives and the reasons behind them."

Shepard kept her gaze steady, refusing to falter under his intimidating stare. "What did you see in me? In my crew?"

Petrovsky stroked the beard at his chin thoughtfully. "A woman who will gets results at little cost to her morality. A motivator who wields words just as confidently as any weapon. Not afraid to do whatever it takes to protect the lives of crew, even at great harm to herself."

He pointedly eyed her stomach, leaving Shepard with that uncomfortable feeling he could see right through her again. While covered by the sheet, it was thin enough to see the spots of blood that had managed to get on it before Chakwas properly sealed the wound.

"Anyone could figure that out just by turning on a vid-screen. My reputation isn't exactly something secret," Shepard replied, trying to cover up her unease with more bite in her voice.

"Hearing it second-hand is not the same as seeing it for yourself." Petrovsky paused. "As for your crew, the loyalty you instill in them is almost inspiring, but as far as Officer Vakarian is concerned, no matter how loyal he may be to you, I stand by what I said before. I believe the events at Afterlife proved that."

"That situation wouldn't have existed if you hadn't given every merc on Omega free reign at him. Or made that deal with Zuhayr." Though she kept her body still so as not to upset her healing wound, she could feel herself getting more agitated by the second, especially where Garrus was concerned. She didn't want to hear she'd lose him to Archangel again.

Maybe Chakwas had been right. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea. Chakwas had given her a muscle relaxant to see if that would help with the spasms. It had seemed to, but she had either been sleeping or staying in a calm frame of mind. She didn't know what would happen if she continued getting agitated like she was.

"He is now leader of all three major merc gangs. It was the only way to ensure his support. I wasn't proud of it, Shepard. Know that." He hadn't seemed that conflicted or broken up about it at the time. "Ever since this whole operation started, there have been many things I haven't been proud of doing, but they were necessary."

"Experimenting on civilians and using them as test subjects to create Adjutants were necessary, General? Separating loved ones, fathers, mothers, children, from their families was necessary for the sake of protecting humanity?"

That finally got a reaction out of Petrovsky, the expression on his face turning black. She had clearly hit a sore spot. "Only political prisoners and those who incited open rebellion. People were quarantined, yes, but they were not harmed. And I certainly did not condone the use of children in experiments. War is not a polite recreation but the vilest thing in life," he said as if he was reading off a direct quote. "And we ought to understand that and not play at war."

That quote sounded familiar, from many, many years ago. When her mother would read stories to her from old, actual hardcover books she had brought with her from Earth. Her mother had had a great reader's voice, providing enough inflection in the dialogue without going over the top.

Petrovsky did not leave her guessing for long. "From Tolstoy. _War and Peace_." How apropos. One of the longest books in her mother's collection. She remembered it had taken nearly three months for her mother to finish reading it to her (though how many pages she read varied from night to night). Then about a month when she read it again on her own.

"I am a student of classic literature," he continued. "I actually read a portion of it to Aria one time, but I think she was too preoccupied by other things to fully appreciate it."

Shepard didn't want to know what that mean, but it did lead into one of the reasons she wanted to talk to him, since there would be no chance of her getting the full story from Aria. "So how was Cerberus able to take over Omega?"

Petrovsky propped his elbows on his knees, curling his hands together as if about to pray. "That is quite a long and complicated story, Commander, and the Alliance is on their way. Surely you could garner all this from the interrogation report they'll certainly release."

Shepard shifted her position so her back was propped more comfortably against the pillow and wall. "I'd like to hear from you just the same. Unless you wish to be escorted back to life support?" she gestured to her two ensigns waiting outside, in position to look through the med-bay window in case Shepard called them back.

"I suppose talking to you is preferable to solitary confinement. Very well. Adjutants had escaped from our facilities beyond the Omega-4 relay, commandeering our shuttles and crash-landing on Omega. I came to Omega with my ship on the Illusive Man's orders to provide assistance."

Wait. Facilities beyond the Omega-4 relay? How was that even possible? "But the galactic core cannot sustain anything unless built with Reaper tech and I destroyed the Collector base. Not to mention the Reaper-IFF."

"More could be salvaged from its ruins than you think, Commander. As for the Reaper-IFF, the data for its creation was obtained from the Normandy before Cerberus was blocked access, thereby allowing its installation on any ships assigned to that region."

"And Aria accepted the assistance?"

"Why wouldn't she? Her beloved station was under attack and she had been allowing us to use the station as a supply hub for our operations in the nebula. She never told you that?" That subtle smirk of satisfaction was really starting to get under her skin. Not that she would ever let him see that.

"It's irrelevant now." Though having _that_ little bit of knowledge might have been nice. "More relevant is how you tricked her off Omega. She wouldn't have left willingly."

"I simply reminded her of the benefits of cooperation and teamwork. And what would happen if we didn't make sure all the Adjutants were taken care of. So she came with me, to Avernus Station to contain the threat. But the gangs saw Aria's absence as a chance to assert their own authority. Without her there to keep order, there was nothing to keep them from tearing each other apart, no matter how much some tried to emulate her."

Shepard fully understood what had happened now. "So you all intently set those abominations loose, to create chaos among the merc gangs and lure Aria away from Omega and take her prisoner, to make it all the easier for Cerberus to take over." How typical of Cerberus.

Petrvosky sat up even straighter in his seat. "It was not intentional, Commander. Only after their release did the Illusive Man see this tragedy as an opportunity. Taking over Omega would be a vital platform for our operations. If the Adjutants were released by Cerberus personnel, it was not on my order, I can assure you. Too many good men and women paid the price." The adamant defensiveness of his tone and the strength of his conviction almost made her believe him. Maybe he wouldn't, his code and all demanding he not, but she wouldn't put it past the Illusive Man.

"You honestly take the Illusive Man at his word? He ordered all your troops to be implanted with Reaper tech. Why wouldn't he set Adjutants loose too?"

Petrovsky did not reply right away, considering Shepard's words carefully. "I had thought it strange at the time that there had been no definitive word on their escape. And I do not deny his methods have become more…extreme in recent months." The pause was the only indication Shepard received on Petrovsky's true feelings about the Illusive Man, his face remaining completely stoic, but it was still enough to know their methods varied.

"And yet you still work for him?" Shepard interrupted.

"Cerberus's cause is still a worthy one," Petrovsky defended.

Maybe once it had its shining moments, but no longer. The Illusive Man was going too far. "Nothing justifies what Cerberus has done."

"A line you've always held, I hear, even when you accepted our aid. I still admire your moral certainty."

Shepard didn't want to get into herself anymore, otherwise Petrovsky would try to play mind games with her like he did in the mines, giving him another full deck to work with.

"So it was that simple, the coup?"

"Of course not. Aria eventually escaped, forced me to bring the Elbrus back to Omega. She was able to flee, rally the gangs around her again. For a point, it looked as if we might lose. So I decided to change the game. Give her what she wanted. Recall all ships and operatives and give Omega back to Aria."

Sacrificing a few of his pawns so he could eventually take the king.

"Some, including my colonel who had led the initial coup in my absence, did not agree. He believed in another way. At first I thought he meant to detonate explosives all throughout Omega, but he had kept an Adjutant in stasis, against direct orders that all loose Adjutants be destroyed. When Aria and her allies arrived at Afterlife, he released it, without my authority, stating the resulting causalities were worth the cost." He pursed his lips, the memory itself seeming to anger him. "I did not agree.

"Once the battle was over, I informed Aria why I had called the ships back. On my order, they would fire on the station and destroy it. I would evacuate the civilians. No more blood needed to be spilled than necessary. But I would not allow anyone else to possess Omega. Rather than see her beloved station blown apart, she fled."

"And you let her go," Shepard said in astonishment. She could not picture the Illusive Man being so merciful if in Petrovsky's place.

"She was defeated. She knew my threat was genuine and I knew she would go quietly. I was also aware she would come back eventually, but I never expected her to bring you or Officer Vakarian with her. Or that she would convince Nyreen Kandros to join her cause. She played her hand well." She swore he almost sounded like he admired the upper-hand Aria showed.

Shepard kept on studying him, hoping to better understand this man, willing to fight with an iron fight but capable of mercy. You couldn't find a better example of someone living in the gray. "You are a very complex man, General."

"I respect everyone else's capabilities, Commander, even when I'm on the receiving end of them," Petrovsky stated matter-of-factly. "And I live by a defined set of rules, just as you live by your own. After all, how can one be well...when one suffers morally?"

She actually recognized the quote this time. "Tolstoy, again?"

"Literature has always been an interest of mine. As well as studying battles and wars throughout history. The siege at Troy, Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persians, the Mongol invasion of China, the English push against the Spanish Armada, the fall of France during the Second World War by the Germans. All great conquests and failures teach something to those willing to learn from them."

Shepard ran her hands over the bedsheet, needing to move something. The longer she was up, the more she was getting antsy just lying there. "The Alliance really could have used you, Petrovsky." She meant it more sincerely than before in the reactor core.

"They already did. In the First Contact War. As a mere corporal taking over command and holding off turian attacks for weeks. They slapped a medal and promotion on me and called me one of humanity's greatest defenders. Then the Alliance became less concerned with human advancement and more concerned with placating aliens in the _name_ of "human advancement.""

Shepard frowned at his dismissiveness. "It's not placating to work together for the common good."

"As long as you don't forget your own interests in the process," Petrovsky shot back. "A battle is won by him who is firmly resolved to win it."

She didn't bother to ask if that was from Tolstoy again or not. "We have won it. Human-alien relations have improved ten-fold in the last few years."

"And yet it took an attack on the Citadel before the Council would do anything to help you. After everything you've done for the other species."

Shepard didn't have a reply to that, knowing he was right. He didn't need to hear her admit it.

Petrovsky sighed, almost sounding like defeat to Shepard's ears. "But I suppose I'm in the growing minority. The way the tide is turning, Cerberus may not long survive this war."

Did he actually admit what she thought he had? More importantly, why hadn't she been recording this? That would have been an incredible morale booster. Just put it on loop over and over again of one of Cerberus's top generals admitting the organization's days were numbered.

"Commander, Alliance escorts are outside, requesting permission to enter."

Shepard glanced up at the ceiling, even though she didn't need to for Joker to hear. Force of habit. "Let them in, Joker. Tell them he'll be brought up to them in the CIC." She waved to the two outside, motioning them to come back in.

Petrovsky stood up from the seat with another accepting sigh. "Suppose I'm off to lock-up now. It was a pleasure to have finally met you, Commander Shepard. You wear your title as defender of the galaxy well." He offered his hand, but she didn't take it. Petrovsky retracted it after a few seconds. Clearly he had not expected her to.

Just as Woodson and Schler came in to take Petrovsky up, parting words flew from Shepard's mouth before she could reign them back in.

"You were wrong about Aria," As she had been. "You're wrong about him." She didn't need to explain whom she was referring.

Petrovsky shrugged, his nonchalant attitude still really getting under her skin. "Believe what you will, Commander, but you saw for yourself. Archangel is alive and well within him. You cannot deny it."

She didn't give him an answer, waiting until her two crewmates escorted Petrovsky out to collapse onto the stretcher again, that short meeting sapping what little energy she had conjured up.

He was right, though. She couldn't deny it.

But the question still remained what exactly Garrus would do about it.

* * *

Knowing Chakwas wouldn't allow her to do anything else, she gave into the one luxury she hadn't much been able to indulge in the last couple of weeks. Sleep. And as an added bonus, without any nightmares of children being gobbled up in flames or oily shadows intent on tormenting her.

She woke up again sometime in the night cycle, probably towards the later end if the lack of activity in the mess was any indication, jerking awake as if from a nightmare but they were usually vivid enough for her to remember them during her waking hours.

She turned her head to the side, expecting to make out Dr. Chakwas typing away at her datapad or even alone, but was pleasantly surprised when Garrus came into view, his head nodding off into his cowl. It was a slightly endearing sight, but tampered by the fact he'd develop a terrible crick in his neck come morning. Chakwas seemed nowhere to be found.

His chair was situated close enough to touch him, only needing to extend her arm hallway out. She laid her hand on his wrist, quietly calling out for him to wake up so he could go to his cot in the main battery, her quarters, or hell, one of the other stretchers if he didn't want to leave her. Anything to get him out of that uncomfortable position he'd regret come morning when he couldn't fully rotate his head.

Being a notoriously light sleeper, that gentle touch and nudging was all he needed to start stirring.

"Need me for something?" he asked, voice still groggy from sleep.

She shook her head. "I'm fine, big guy. Really." Maybe not completely true, but she had been lucky. That bullet hadn't hit any vital organs or her Cerberus cybernetics. A couple of days of rest and not sighting down targets and she'd be right as rain.

She hadn't seen Garrus since he dropped her off in the med-bay twelve some hours before. "You doing ok? Thought Chakwas ordered you to go rest too." She was already getting drowsy again, her eyes wanting to shut themselves of their own accord. She fought them, but it was a struggle. It was the dimmed lighting in the med-bay. Her eyelids couldn't seem to resist.

"Came by while you were sleeping. Volunteered to watch over you while Chakwas caught some shut-eye. Didn't mean to fall asleep. Guess I was more tired than I thought." A hint of sheepishness crept onto his face, but it was marred by the more serious one he was trying to hide from her.

"You sure you're okay? Not that I don't appreciate it, but you don't have to look after me. Can't get into too much trouble sleeping."

The comment had the opposite desired response. Instead of coming up with some smart-ass comment about how trouble never bothered to take day/night cycles into consideration and how it'd find its way to her no matter where or what she did, his plates tightened to the point it looked like it was causing him pain. His expression was similar to that of a drawn out look on humans, one that usually appeared when trying to rein back a mournful cry.

"No. I do," was all he could manage to get out.

The uncharacteristic display of vulnerability had Shepard reaching for his hand again and running her thumb over his knuckles. "Garrus…"

He drew a ragged breath, eyes snapping shut as if trying to block out an oncoming image. "It was bad enough when I saw you trapped in that tank. When you fell to the ground in Afterlife, not knowing whether you were alive or dead..." Was that a _keening_ sound he was barely holding back? "I told you to never sca...do that again."

Even with fighting sleep, Shepard caught the slip. Her hand tightened on his, feeling its slight shake. "I couldn't let you get hurt again. And I'm fine now."

Garrus didn't reply and Shepard didn't ask for one, content on him squeezing her hand back just as tightly as she had.

They stayed in that silence for a brief moment, taking comfort in the presence of the other, before Shepard finally had to break the mood (before she fell asleep again) and ask, "Is there anything else you want to tell me about Omega?" About Archangel. "We can talk about it if you want."

They hadn't had much of a chance, with Bray and Petrovsky a potential audience to their conversation or her being in and out of consciousness.

He pulled his hand away, her hand grasping for air. "Nothing can be said."

"I disagree." _Lots _of things could be said about what happened, different avenues for the conversation to take.

"I'm fine, Jane. Really."

"I don't believe you." Not when he had been more distraught than she ever remembered him being a moment ago.

His hands found their way on both her shoulders, the pads of his talons rubbing them in a soothing circular motion. "Not now. Not when you need more sleep. "

"Not tired," she murmured with an increasingly heavy tongue, knowing that to be a white lie.

One of Garrus's hands went back to his side while the other lowered itself down to her stomach, only passing over the spot of the wound, barely grazing it before pulling away as not to aggravate it.

"You're putting up a real convincing argument," he said with a weak smile.

She would have glared at him, but she didn't even feel like she had the energy for that. She was still so tired.

Shepard then felt the slightest pressure of rough (but pleasant) plates on the center of her forehead, a warm feeling rushing through her at the contact.

"Go back to sleep, Jane. I'll be here if you need me."

It may have been a trick her mind was playing on her, lack of proper light and growing blurriness of her eyes, but as her eyelids finally gave in and accepted sleep's pull, watching Garrus until they closed, she could have sworn he was looking at her as if wanting to cherish every last detail, as if this was for the last time.

* * *

She slept until early afternoon. Garrus had left, Chakwas resuming her place behind the desk.

She couldn't remember the last time she had spoiled herself like that, definitely way before she joined the military. Nor could she remember waking up feeling so rested, gunshot wound aside. Amazing what a peaceful, mostly nightmare-free sleep could do a person.

Chakwas broke away from typing on her datapad when she noticed Shepard awaken. She flooded Shepard with questions, all of them essentially boiling down to how she was feeling. Besides tender around her stomach, her first impression was pretty good. She even managed to raise herself up again from the cot, gingerly swinging her legs over it and tossing back the paper-thin sheet that had served as a blanket.

Shepard eased her feet down onto the floor, using the cot as support in case she needed it. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt to stand so far. She let go of the stretcher, taking a few cautious steps towards the door. Still seemed alright. Sore and stiff, but alright.

Though Chakwas had raised an objection, something along the lines of "I haven't cleared you to leave the med-bay yet, Commander," even she couldn't argue at the results, double checking with a scan of her omni-tool. "Your Cerberus implants are still holding up well, I see. Either that or you're getting these numbers through sheer willpower."

"Why not both?"

Chakwas relented in a show of leniency, instructing her to stay on the ship and that she was not clear for active duty. She could sleep in her cabin that night too, reminding her to hold off on certain physical activities until her wound had 100% healed. Least she tried to be more subtle than Mordin had.

"The second you feel even a twinge, come to me. I'm warning you, Shepard, don't aggravate yourself or I'll restrain you to this stretcher myself."

Shepard gave her a reassuring look, knowing Chakwas would not hesitate to act on her threat. She had been the Normandy's doctor for three years, afterall. "Duly noted, Doctor."

Chakwas went over to her desk, rummaging through it until she stumbled upon a bottle of white pills. "Painkillers in case the soreness comes back." She wasn't finished, handing Shepard a purple bottle along with the painkillers. "And the muscle relaxant."

She thanked Chakwas again before heading out the door, making a beeline for the kitchen, which turned to be less of a beeline and more of a shuffle, still not having the energy to go at her normal brisk pace. She was determined on raiding the cabinets and fridge for something edible that wasn't another protein bar.

She wasn't having much luck on her initial scan amongst the shelves, finding only packaged or canned goods. She then moved to the refrigerator, having to push through to the back and reorganize its contents like some kind of shifting jigsaw puzzle until she stumbled upon some actually fruit that had miraculously been left untouched. She wasn't usually a blueberry fan, but now that she had found them, she wasn't going to pass them up.

A cup filled with blueberries later, she plopped the still chilly blueberry into her mouth while making her way to the main battery to check on Garrus.

He was nowhere to be found when the door to the main battery opened. Not in his usual spot at the console, not sleeping on the pulled cot usually stored underneath his bench, not actually working on the cannon further down the room.

Normally, she wouldn't have thought anything of it. He hadn't always been in the main battery when she came to talk to him, sometimes in the bar or out in the mess or down in the shuttle bay working on his rifles (though he had a bench in the battery, he had often said it was easier to work down there), but in light of everything that had happened, she couldn't shake it off.

"EDI?" she called after she finished munching on another berry. "Do you know where Garrus is?" She hated to do this. It was an invasion of privacy and she knew that, but she didn't feel like wandering the ship playing the where could Garrus be hiding game.

"Garrus left the Normandy at approximately 12:46 hours. I believe he mentioned something about going to visit friends at C-Sec."

It could mean nothing, Garrus needing to get off the ship or having a sudden urge to check on old colleagues. They wouldn't be on the Citadel again for awhile. It could have meant a number of things. So why did Shepard feel so ill at ease?

She winced when she chomped down on the inside of her cheek, having expected a berry there.

"When he gets back on board, could you let me know?" she asked in between chews of another berry, though she could have sworn she tasted blood in the mix.

"Of course, Shepard. Is everything alright? I'm reading an increased level in your heart rate."

_Not the least bit creepy, EDI._

She assured the AI she was fine. Having suddenly lost her appetite and the blueberries having lost their sweetness to her palate, she placed the rest back in the fridge on the way out. No reason for them to go to waste.

* * *

He didn't come back until after dinner, after some others of the crew had returned from their sojourns. She had killed the time trying to patch up her favorite armor, specifically the chest plate, going down to the shuttle bay to retrieve it from her armor locker along with some tools and take it back up to her cabin. She grew disheartened when a few hours later her shields still remained fried and the bullet-shaped hole in the stomach plate was only half-way closed up. She'd probably have to have it looked at. Or possibly put to scrap metal.

She sent Garrus a message, telling him she had been set free from her imprisonment (somewhat), asking him to come to her cabin once he got settled in.

He replied he wanted to take care of rifle maintenance, install some mods he had picked up, and finish his calibrations (that dreaded word) for the night.

She knew he took his position seriously, but he had always jumped at the chance to come up and spend time with her, even if just for a little while, regardless of what else he had to do. Especially after he hadn't wanted to leave her side the night before. Especially after taking a bullet for him.

This all meant something. She didn't know what, but it left her with a bad taste in her mouth and a sense of foreboding.

Nonetheless, she waited. She continued fiddling around with her chestplate, fed Boo (her fish were now fed with an automatic feeder so they wouldn't starve to death, float belly-up to the top of the tank, and make her feel bad about herself), skimmed through messages on her terminal, even cleaned up her pretty spotless cabin.

How she had managed to kill four hours, she had no good idea, but she basically had nothing meaningful to show for it and Garrus still had not come up.

It was now approaching midnight. She was done playing this game. They had done it enough on Omega. They weren't going to do it here. They were going to have their heart-to-heart, whether Garrus was willing or not.

She stormed out her door, catching Boo scurrying into his little hole out of the corner of her eye, as if sensing his mistress's ire. Poor thing. She hadn't meant to frighten him. He hadn't done anything except be his cute, nervous self.

She rode the elevator down to the third deck, storming out of it just as intensely. She was just about to round the corner when she glanced over at the wall and a name caught her eye.

A newly printed plaque hung proudly in its new spot where Orden LaFlamme's name used to be, right after Mordin's plaque. The name of Nyreen Kandros was not hard to make out, even from a distance.

Suddenly, all the frustration she had felt towards him drained out of her. So that's what he had been doing (at least part of the time). It must have not been too long ago he put the name up. Maybe someone else saw him. She could at least hear James in the mess.

She slowly rounded the corner, spotting James by the stove cracking an egg with the precision of a master chef, Javik casually leaning against the refrigerator, his four beady eyes unblinkingly fixated on James. Cortez was also there, having pulled up a chair and sitting at the table closest to the stove.

"So...Prothean, huh? You guys like to drink? Booze it up?"

"No," Javik replied in his typical, no-nonsense attitude.

"Ok. What about gambling? Play cards?" James asked, trying again.

"Games of chance were punishable by death in the empire."

"That sounds completely reasonable," Cortez murmured behind his glass. "Speaking of which, are those eggs going to be ready soon, Mr. Vega? We got a poker game to play. Like tonight."

"You can't rush perfection, Esteban."

Cortez rolled his eyes and set down his glass, catching Shepard's approach out of the corner of his eye. "Shepard, it's good to see you up. You had us all worried."

"So I heard from Dr. Chakwas." Inching closer to them, she lowered her voice lest it carried all the way to the shut door of the main battery. "Have you seen Garrus lately?"

"The turian was by the wall for a good while. Completely paralyzed," Javik offered, his words doing little to comfort her.

"Yeah, what Buggy said. When he went back to the battery, I asked him if he wanted to join me and Esteban in the lounge later, but I don't think he heard me. Damn shame. Always like playing cards with Scars. Plus wanted to ask how it went on Omega. I mean, besides you getting shot, which sucks big time, by the way, Lola."

"That's the understatement of the century, James."

"I saw him down in the shuttle bay, fixing up his rifle," Cortez interjected, taking a final swig of his drink. "I didn't want to bother him, but there were definitely times when I looked over and he wasn't doing anything but just standing over it. I occasionally saw him glancing over at the Kodiak too."

Shepard knew the signs were all pointing to something, but she didn't want to face what that could be. The looks Garrus gave her while asleep in the med-bay, placing Nyreen's name among those other fallen, completely unresponsive to others around him, not coming to her cabin, staring over at the Kodiak as if wondering...

Her breathing hitched, the realization hitting her like another shot to the stomach.

That foolish turian.

He wouldn't...he _couldn't..._

"Steve, is it possible for a Kodiak to make a long jump through a mass relay?" She remembered only riding in it once for that, when she had first been resurrected and traveled from the two Cerberus stations and then onto to Freedom's Progress, but she hadn't exactly been keeping track of the distance between all of them, more focused on the more important revelation of having died and been brought back to life.

Cortez cocked his head, as if trying to decipher why Shepard would want to know. "It's doable. Its structure was designed to withstand just about any pressure. Would also depend on how long of a distance. Take from here to the Omega Nebula. A bit of a hike, but it could be done." The expression on Cortez's face shifted from curiosity to puzzlement. "Why?"

Shepard forced a smile on her face, trying to create the illusion nothing was wrong, just genuine curiosity. "It's nothing, just wondering." She looked over at the elevator. "Think I'll go back up, continue slogging through the reports that have piled up."

"Just make sure to take it easy," Cortez advised, hoisting himself from his seat to run his now empty glass and finished-off plate in the sink.

Shepard appreciated the friendly concern. "The good doctor already threatened to restrain me if I didn't, so don't worry," she said, playing along.

"Good to hear. Night, Shepard."

"Yeah, night, Shepard," James said, his attention back to flipping his cooking eggs around. Only Javik was staring at her with a knowing look, sensing there was more going through her mind than she let on. Least he could only know for certain if he touched her. Good thing they were on opposite sides of the kitchen area.

Shepard began making her way to the elevator, her ears catching James continuing his earlier conversation with Javik, "So...smoking? You ever do that?"

She barely took in Javik's droll response, "Only when my armor becomes enflamed," the reply passing over her as she began processing what Garrus was planning to do. She only allowed it to fully hit her when she was in the elevator and the door had closed.

He was going back to Omega. Tonight before anyone could figure out what was bothering him or try to stop him or convince him not to go. Before anyone knew he was gone.

Petrovsky had been right all along.

She laid her forehead against the wall, reminiscent of the same position she had been in only fifty plus hours ago. How could Garrus do this? Why would he even consider it, after everything she had done to ensure his turian ass stayed safe? After he made that promise to her? After he didn't seek vengeance on Petrovsky and convinced Aria to spare his life?

No, she had her ideas why. Each reason worse than the last. Force Aria to honor her terms. Revenge against Zuhayr for Shepard or Nyreen or both. Leaving her to take up his mantel on Omega again. She honestly would have preferred the revenge possibility if it meant he wasn't abandoning her, their friends, to take up a fight that should have been long over for him.

Either way, she'd lose him to Archangel. She could just imagine that look of smug satisfaction on Petrovsky's face now and it made her want to throw up what little contents were in her stomach.

The elevator dumped her out onto the shuttle hangar, quiet and still with none of the crew hanging about, surprising since it wasn't that late. But entirely beneficial to her.

She immediately went for her armor locker, digging out her second set of N7 chestplate, the one courtesy of Armax Arsenal, the one with the extra storage space for thermal clips.

Chakwas was going to skin her alive for this, but she had to take the chance.

She could have stormed the main battery, demanded he explain himself, what he thought he'd hope to accomplish, but she knew him. Once he had his mind set on something, he wouldn't let it go. His efforts to find Sidonis were all the proof she needed. Even if he seemingly placated her, gave her reassurances he wouldn't go, it'd continue to eat away at him until he finally gave in.

So she'd wait for him. After all, a genius author once wrote, the strongest of all warriors were these two, Time and Patience.

* * *

It only took twenty-minutes to snap all the pieces of her armor into place. She took care not to hit her stomach and tried not to stretch her arms too far above her head or bend too far over to slide her boots on. She thought about saddling her sniper rifle around again, but even though she was already pushing her endurance just by being in her armor and going to an asteroid station with tons of enemies, she had to be somewhat reasonable. She decided on switching out her sniper for the lighter M-12 Locust. Hadn't used that in awhile, not since the Collector Base.

With James and Cortez up in the lounge, that allowed her to make good use behind James's workbench as a hiding place, popping her pills with the fervor of a junkie on her next fix. She wanted to believe with all her heart she was overreacting, that Aria's paranoia had completely rubbed off on her, but as she inserted her pill bottle back into the compartments at her belt, she knew she'd regret living in that fantasy come morning, when the Kodiak was gone and Garrus with it for an untold number of hours.

She only had to wait for about an hour (just as her legs started stiffening up from being in the same position) until she heard the elevator door open again and the open and close of an armor locker. She peeked a quick look, spotting Garrus heading straight for the Kodiak.

She waited until he had lowered it down to activate her tactical cloak. If there was ever a time she could be thankful she had chosen to train as an infiltrator, this was one of them. She followed closely behind him, hopping in after him only when he had reached the cockpit, trying to make as little noise as possible. She was thankfully aided by the prolonged roar of the hangar bay doors opening. She had to be sure she was in and they had taken off for the relay before she let her presence known.

He must have been extremely focused on the task at hand, as his normally sharp and sensitive hearing would have picked up the light (as could possibly be in armored boots) footfall as she entered the shuttle. The one thing the cloak could not mask. Maybe someone would come up with a way to fix that someday.

Only when they had zoomed out of the shuttle bay did she walk towards the cockpit, heart racing despite her best efforts to quell it. Her cloak still had about twenty seconds left until it wore off. She was almost on him, standing in the entryway to the cockpit behind the pilot's seat when he suddenly launched his omni-tool, nervously tapping the talons of his right hand against the console.

"Jane. You'll probably see this when you wake up. And then want to incinerate my ass from here to dark space." The joke was forced as hell. "I know I should have told you this in person. You deserve more than just some audio message. But I knew I wouldn't be able to leave if I did and I have to. I have to go back to Omega."

Shepard was tempted to let him continue recording the message, have him finish telling her what couldn't be said in person (mostly because she didn't know if she could trust herself to speak), but the charade's closure was decided for her when the shuttle made a sudden lurch.

Garrus had been able to hold on, but she was completely unprepared for it and barely managed to keep herself from tumbling to the floor in a heap, clutching at the wall for support and breaking the cloak. But the amount of noise she made (and the possible curse that flew out of her mouth) had Garrus spinning around, his eyes widening to the size of saucers at the sight of Shepard standing in front of him in full gear and not confined to the ship like she really should have been.

If it had been any other time, Shepard would have been pleased with herself for invoking such a reaction of genuine startled surprise from Garrus, who prided himself on always being aware of his surroundings.

"You know, Vakarian," she began with a shockingly steady voice, righting herself back up. "Considering how you stowed away last time, really thought you would have checked the whole shuttle before take-off."

"Jane." He had gotten over the shock quickly, his sub-flang incredibly rough, a tell-tale sign he was fighting back emotion. "You shouldn't be here."

"No, I really think I do," she countered, crossing her arms.

He quickly punched a few buttons on the console, the VI coming online to announce auto-pilot would continue to run cruise-control until instructed otherwise. So he hadn't plotted the course to the relay yet. "This…this isn't what it looks like."

Shepard wasn't planning to give him that easy of an out now. "Really, Garrus? You put Nyreen's name up on the wall." His eyes widened even more knowing she had found out about that too, not that it had taken much effort on her part. "Go off to the Wards for hours, refuse to come up to my cabin, act aloof to the crew, steal the Kodiak in the middle of the night, you're heading towards a mass relay and recording a message about going back to Omega…tell me what this is supposed to look like."

His gaze fell away, unable to take looking at Shepard's accusing eyes. "I have to do this, Jane."

"You think you're just going to be able to sneak in, undetected, in an Alliance shuttle, without Aria finding out? Did you forget the part of Aria's threat about never setting foot on Omega again?"

"Aria isn't the only one familiar with back entrances in and out of Omega," Garrus insisted, as if that would put Shepard's mind at ease.

"Assuming she doesn't find out and hunt you down, what do you hope to accomplish, Garrus? Find Aria first and get her to change her mind? Go after Zuhayr before Aria does?" Another thing Aria wouldn't forgive Garrus for if he took Zuhayr away from her too. "Avenge my being shot? Nyreen's death?"

Garrus's mandibles fluttered then stiffened at the mention of Nyreen's name, but didn't say anything, as if not trusting his voice.

"She made her choice, Garrus," Shepard filled the tense silence with this reassurance. "She could have gone for the generators or helped you get out of there, but she chose another way." She longed to touch him, cup his mandible in her palm and run her fingers over his plates, but she had to hold off until she was done. "Don't you go thinking it was your fault."

Garrus bowed his head, burying it in his free hand, the tension rolling off him in waves. "She might still be alive if I hadn't let my feelings get in the way of my better judgment. She might have driven me crazy back in my military days, but I really respected how she turned the Talons around. She was the best chance to be a strong voice for Omega's people and I killed that chance. Her death is on my hands. Just like my team."

Garrus was still keeping his head bowed, intently focusing on the chrome floor, and Shepard didn't like what that meant. Was he feeling guilty at having snuck away without telling her, for instilling unsettling feelings within her?

Was that it unspeakable possibility?

"Or is that not it at all?" she forced herself to press onward, no matter where it led. "You don't need to go back to make a difference, Garrus. You're making one here, being Victus's advisor, a squadmate on the Normandy." _And being my king_. "You don't have to be Archangel anymore."

She swallowed the growing lump in her throat. "You don't have to leave me."

She wasn't going to fall on her knees and beg him not to leave her to do all this on her own. She was Commander Shepard, damn it. She was stronger than that. She wasn't going to become a sobbing hysterical wreck over Garrus's decision, no matter what it was.

She wasn't.

No matter how much it would shatter her heart into a million pieces.

Distracted from keeping her emotions in check, she didn't hear him rise from his seat. Now she was the one tracing the lines on the floor with her eyes as he reached down and curled his talons around her now balled-up hand, coaxing it open with gentle motions of his talons. She let her hand hang limply in his grip, but she didn't pull away. He cupped her cheek with his other hand, forcing her head upward, caressing the area just underneath her eye with his thumb.

"You know I'm not good at this type of stuff, but I need you to understand." His voice caught in his throat, trailing off with an awkward pause. "Please just hear me out."

A wave of unexplainable distress washed over her, from feeling it in her bones. What was he going to say?

_Stop it_, she tried to scold herself. She had done what she could to encourage him. The final decision was up to him, always had been. But the thought he might choose _that_ still hurt, no matter how much she denied it.

Shepard took a deep breath, steadying herself, readying herself for the worst. She nodded for him to continue.

"During my time as Archangel, nothing was more important to me than taking down the scum of Omega, giving the people hope they could walk down the street without fear of getting jumped or being caught in the crossfire of a gang war. That became my purpose because I didn't believe I'd have a life beyond Omega, anything else left to fight for."

"And now?" Shepard dared to ask in a breathless whisper.

The air crackled with static as both his hands came to rest on her waist, pulling her so they were as close as they could with their bulky armor in between them, nuzzling the side of her face with his mandible affectionately.

"It's you, Jane," he breathed raggedly into her ear, his voice filled to the brim with warmth and devotion. Love. "You. Any hope of a future with you beyond all this. That's what I have left to fight for."

"_Something to lose and the aim to make sure he doesn't..."_

Petrovsky had been wrong, afterall.

_Garrus_ had proven her right.

It was the stress and physical trauma she had been through. That had to have been why her eyes were burning like ash and dirt had been blown into them, fighting back the tears. Since when had she become so emotional?

"I'm sorry I even thought you'd…" Where fear had been, guilt had taken its place. How could she have allowed herself to think he'd leave her?

He pulled his mandible away so he could properly face her again, his eyes practically blinding her with emotion he usually kept hidden away. "I wasn't doing anything to make you think otherwise. But you know now why I have to do this. Going back is the only way I can finally put Archangel behind me." His eyes pleaded with hers to understand.

Shepard slowly nodded. She still didn't know what exactly he was planning to do, but she understood his reasons. And if he was as determined (and suicidal) to do it, it wouldn't be without her, that she was damn sure of, even if she wouldn't be much use. "Okay. I get it. Let's do it, then."

"I can't ask you to come with me. And you're still healing. I don't want you to get hurt again." Or worse, his blue-grey eyes seemed to add for him.

She ran her thumb on the plate under his visor-less eye, mirroring his action to her. "It wasn't just your kingdom under siege, Garrus. It was mine too. We're king and queen of the bottle shooters, remember?"

"I haven't forgotten, but…"

"I'll be fine, big guy. I have my cloak in case things get hot." She cupped her scarred mandible. She wasn't going to shy away. No matter what, she would always be his queen and she wasn't going to let him go out to battle alone. "We defend our kingdom together."

She could see the struggle in his eyes, wanting to keep her safe but wanting to respect her decision. Finally, Garrus pulled her even closer to him until no space between them remained, pressing his plates against her forehead and showing no sign of pulling away any time soon.

"Together, then, my warrior queen."

* * *

A/N: Only one more chapter to go! And if anyone has actually read the Mass Effect: Invasion comics and sees something inaccurate with Petrovsky's retelling of the takeover of Omega, feel free to let me know, as I have not read them and relied heavily on the interwebs for a synopsis.


	16. -16-

A/N: Salutations and welcome to the journey's end for _Taking Back Omega_. As with _Old, Unhappy, Far-Off Things, _it's been a fun ride and I'll be sad to see it go. As always, thanks to everyone who has subscribed to this story by favoriting or following it, or just stopped by to read it. Your support throughout has been greatly appreciated! Also, a big thank you to Danie-Dono, maymei, Guest, guardianesmi, and Blausen for your reviews last chapter! So again, thank you all and hope you enjoy this last installment.

* * *

-16-

"The opening's not too much farther from here," Garrus assured Shepard, continuing to lead her through the catacombs underneath Omega. Thankfully they had still remained a best-kept secret, as they had not encountered a soul, not even civilians or mercs hiding away or an Adjutant running loose.

They had just arrived on Omega not long ago, but already, Shepard felt like they had been there for much longer. How they had managed to land on Omega, let alone approach it, undetected was beyond her. She would have thought re-activating external defenses would have been high on Aria's to-do list. She was still expecting someone to pop out from the shadows, demanding what they were doing there, haul them to Aria.

She tried to keep the tingling in the back of her neck feeling that occurred whenever she felt she was being watched at bay by talking to Garrus. "So Bray was positive Zuhayr and his mercs were chased out of your old base?"

On the shuttle ride over, once they had composed themselves and were back to acting like professional soldiers on a mission, Garrus had revealed bumping into Bray in the Wards, back on Aria's behalf to oversee consolidation of resources (whether for herself or the war he had not said), who imparted that information to Garrus. The raid had been done on Aria's orders, with Bray leading the operation (guess ferrying her was his last crap assignment). Zuhayr's mercs hadn't been prepared and Aria's forces steamrolled them in a matter of one hour. Apparently it had happened not too long after their hasty departure. Aria certainly had not wasted any time hunting Zuhayr down.

"Either they were killed, taken prisoner or changed sides. Zuhayr was nowhere to be found. Hopefully he'll have gone underground."

Shepard hoped that was the case. Not that Zuhayr didn't deserve to be hunted down before he caused more grief to innocent people, but the last thing she wanted was for him to show up, tempt Garrus to lose control again, despite his heartfelt declaration

"Surprised Aria didn't order the place burned to the ground," she said instead, making sure not to trip over a crack in the ground. "Try and smoke them out."

"Guess I should send her a thank-you note for allowing me this cathartic moment, then," Garrus said over his shoulder, directing her to round another corner.

"If she even bothered to read it before tearing it up into a million pieces." The staleness of the air was really starting to get to her, combined with the almost suffocating heat of the area. She was also starting to feel more sluggish the longer they walked. It wasn't like they were going at a brisk pace either. Garrus had been extremely mindful of her wound and did not want to put any undue stress on her.

"That's it, just ahead," Garrus said, pointing to a ladder at the end of the hallway, which led to a latch door. "This will take us up to the basement." He glanced over at her, his eyes flooding with concern at her slower pace. Clearly he had noticed her struggling. "Do you need a second?"

Shepard shook her head. She wanted this over with as quickly as possible so they could leave this godforsaken asteroid just as quickly. She didn't want to push their luck. "I'm just going to rest up while you get the door unlatched."

She knew Garrus sensed she was struggling more than she admitted, but he dropped it for now. Though he felt his return necessary, he wanted this over with as quickly as she did.

Shepard stayed behind while Garrus climbed up the ladder, undoing the latch with both hands while trying to keep his balance with just his legs for support. After a moment of struggling, he managed to undo it. He waited another moment, pressing his ear canal against it to try and make out any noise coming from above. Shepard didn't hear anything either. Nothing but the steady drip of a water pipe somewhere nearby.

"Wait for my call to come up," Garrus directed, giving the orders for once. Shepard willingly released the reins, sitting back and letting someone else take charge with a nod of acknowledgement.

When he disappeared, the feeling of being watched (stalked, more like) came back with a vengeance. Despite looking around her and seeing no one, hearing no soft footsteps, she still felt uneasy. The last thing she wanted to do was to be caught off guard, in a tunnel that barely held enough light as it was.

Not being able to take it anymore, Shepard inched over to the ladder. "Garrus, is it safe?" she quietly called.

No answer.

"Garrus," she called again, raising her voice a decibel, on the off chance he hadn't heard her.

Still no answer.

But she hadn't heard a gunshot or a thump or anything to indicate anything had happened. What the hell was going on?

Gripping the ladder sturdily with both hands, Shepard carefully made her way up. She poked her head out first before pulling the rest of her body out, taking care with her movements so as not to aggravate her stomach.  
The secret entrance had led them to one of the storage areas of the lower level. Spare thermal clips and mods, weaponry from the smallest pistol to the largest missile launcher, and mechs were stored in that small space, all lined neatly in a row with ruthless precision.

Garrus was still nowhere to be found.

Throwing caution to the wind, she pressed her hand to the green circle at the door (for some reason it hadn't opened automatically). She was relieved when she spotted him not too far from the entrance, but his back was turned away from her, as if frozen in place. She walked over to him, asking him why he hadn't called back to her and gone on ahead when her eyes fell on the reason why, in the form of ten skeletal remains dangling from the rafters above.

Shepard vaguely recalled the pieces of tarp over the floor when she had come to recruit Garrus, not paying them much mind at the time. Once she had learned what happened to him and his team, she had realized those tarps had been makeshift coffins and graves, shielding the bodies from prying eyes or thieving hands.

Was this them? There were exactly ten up there. The chances were probably high. Did Zuhayr order them strung up, as a reminder to everyone what happened when trifling with the gangs? Were they already bones and skulls by the time they came down here or had their decomposing corpses been hung up?

They deserved better than this. Real funerals, proper resting places, not have their remains on display at the mercy of some sociopathic merc leader.

Garrus had still not looked at her or acknowledged her arrival. Judging by the tightness of his mandibles and face plates, he had put two and two together like she had.

Rather than try and coax any words out of him, she stood beside him and reached down for his gloved hand, interlacing her five fingers between the spaces of his three, squeezing it tightly to remind him he wasn't alone to face this, that she was still with him to do what needed to be done.

"You still want to do this?" Shepard asked quietly, breaking the silence that had settled in around them.

Garrus didn't give her a verbal answer. He didn't answer at all at first, looking as if he hadn't even heard the question, lost in his own dark thoughts. Then after sometime he squeezed Shepard's hand back and removed something from one of the compartments in his armor.

He ran his thumb over the metal ridge of his old eye-piece, which he had told her he had been holding onto. Even once he got the new one, he couldn't get rid of it. He had wanted it as a reminder, to his team and to what he had done on Omega. With all the names, one by one, scratched into the frame: Butler, Montague, Melanis, Sensat, Grundan Krul, Erash, Vortash, Weaver, Mierin, and Ripper. Sidonis's name had long been etched out.

Now it was finally time to let go.

Garrus released her hand to approach the remains that had once belonged to his ten brothers-in-arms until he was directly below them. He placed his visor right in the middle of the floor, right in the center of one of the skeleton's shadows.

"Yeah," he answered as he turned back to her, his voice rough. "Let's blow this place to hell."

Though she had been insistent on coming with him without knowing exactly his purpose, that didn't mean she wanted to be kept in mystery about it. She always had to know the battleplan and all its ins and outs, down to the last detail.

He had confessed to her he hadn't seriously considered coming back until after his talk with Bray. He had toyed with it, but the rational part of his brain kept on reminding him of the thousands of different reasons why it was a bad idea. Knowing that the base could be used again for some other scum merc gang (the sight of which had disturbed him more than he had admitted to originally) became too much, the final straw. It had to be destroyed and the ghosts that still insisted on haunting him along with it. Then he could regain focus, finally put aside that chapter of his life.

Shepard had pressed him on Zuhayr, questioning whether Garrus hoped to encounter him while he was there. Archangel or not, Garrus still might have viewed his escape as an injustice and a necessity to the safety of the people of Omega (points she couldn't deny weren't true). It wasn't a top priority, he had replied, but he wouldn't shy away from a fight if Zuhayr was looking for one. He had kissed away the growing frown on her face (always an effective way to make problems go away), reassuring her he wouldn't have tried to track him down to force a fight. The days of intentionally antagonizing criminals were over. Besides, if Zuhayr was as clever as they pegged him, he'd be impossible to find in just one fell swoop of the area. Omega had many dark corners to bunker down in.

They had more immediate concerns, mainly in the form of machines the height of skyscrapers.

It was not to say her unease was due to distrust of Garrus's combat skills. He was one of the best soldiers she had fought with in her military career. A brilliant sniper and tactician. Not many could have held out on his base alone as long as he did, with countless number of mercs engaging in unrelenting attacks. But her trepidation regarding Zuhayr had not diminished. He seemed to enjoy getting inside peoples' minds, striking their sensitive chords until they lost complete control over themselves, leaving the door open for Zuhayr to take advantage. She did not want to think about Garrus going toe-to-toe with him alone again.

They exited the storage area to retrieve the charges Garrus had hidden away in secret compartments and places only he had access to (he had such confidence no one would have discovered them). To Shepard's relief, she did not see or hear any sign of other occupants in the base. They did see some prone figures on the ground, presumably from the battle with Aria's forces. Garrus pretended they weren't there, casually stepping over the corpses, but Shepard could tell by the sudden straightening of his back he was merely steeling himself at the sight. It upset him just as much as seeing the remains of his team, the corpses reminders of what he had encountered when he came back to his base that fateful day, after being lured away by Sidonis.

As they pulled the charges out of their hiding places, she wanted to ask why he had them hidden away, if he had planned to use them as a last resort if he ended up pinned down by the gangs, but she didn't want to think about him pressing that button, blowing up in a fiery explosion. It was an image she could certainly do without.

Once satisfied with the set-up on the lower level, Garrus led her back up to the main level, going out first again to make sure no one was lying in wait for them. He gave the all clear this time, immediately heading to the room they had been imprisoned in only two days ago.

They slowly carried the charge to the center of the room and Shepard immediately got that tingle in the back of her neck again. But there was no one around except sightless corpses keeping them company.

"Just one more upstairs should do the trick. The charges have a fairly wide impact radius," Garrus murmured as he finished calibrating the charge with his omni-tool, seemingly not experiencing the same feeling of being watched.

Probably was just nerves getting to her, but wouldn't hurt to keep her hand close to her holstered Locust.

The last charge was placed behind a shelving unit in what used to be Garrus's bedroom. Again, he made a point of not looking around, remaining focused on retrieving the charge. Instead of leaving it in the bedroom, they dragged it to the lounge area across the hall, the holo-graphic interface shut down and emitting sparks, clearly shot up.

As she helped set the charge, a wave of fatigue washed over. No shocks or sharp pains at her stomach, just a bone-weary tiredness that she thought she finally had gotten rid of. Wrong time for her body to remind her to take it easy.

"Jane?" Garrus called, turning his attention to her, her name layered with so much meaning.

"I'm fine, Garrus. Just need a moment before we head out," she replied, already using the window ledge to lower herself to the floor, feeling slightly annoyed at having to say that for the second time in twenty minutes. Though she couldn't deny she found his over-concern slightly endearing. "Not all of us can go and calibrate cannons right after getting shot."

A poor joke and she knew it, but Garrus still humored her and played along. Anything to distract him from the memories this place invoked. "Do my ears deceive me? Commander Shepard admitting someone else is better at her at something? Damn I wish I had been recording that."

Shepard sent him a mock glare. "You don't even have ears."

"Not the point." Garrus didn't come down and sit beside her, but he did stand, resting his arms against the sill, staring out to the entrance of his compound. "You know, when I saw you through my scope that day, I thought I was hallucinating. Conjured you up to make me think I had some back-up out there. Glad I wasn't."

"I'm just glad we made it in time. And sorry it wasn't even sooner," Shepard replied, her tone apologetic.

"You had your own problems to deal with. You couldn't have known how bad it was. Besides, don't know what I'd do without the scars. I'd lose so much rugged charm," he said with a hint of a smile.

She tilted her head up at him. "The thought of losing all those women flocking to your side that devastating to you?" she teased.

He finally glanced down at her, the look in his eyes completely serious. "Only if I lose the one beside me."

Now more than ever she wished she could say the words: "You never will." But she couldn't do it, give him that false hope. Until this war was over and the Reapers were piles of carcasses, it would be a lie. They both knew that. They had to be realistic about their chances of survival. Or at least, her chance of survival.

Garrus took a moment to look around him, his eyes glazing over as he lost himself in the memories again. "I gathered them all right up here, a week before the attack. I told you before some had started expressing concerns about continuing our work, that maybe it was time to stop. They all had their reasons. Butler, Melanis, and Weaver for their families, Mierin and Sensat wanting to move on, the strain starting to get to them.

"I argued our work had barely begun, that we were Omega's protectors now and the station would fall right back into chaos if we stopped. I argued and pushed and cajoled until those reluctant finally relented to stay a little longer. I genuinely believed I had done the right thing. But I realize now talk itself of moving on past our work had gotten to me. I didn't know what else was out there for me. I had finally found purpose in my life again and I didn't want to lose it."

Though he was clearly hurting, emotions out in plain view for her to see, she didn't go over to him yet, not wanting to interrupt him. He needed this release if he were to properly let go.

His eyes fell on a spot across the room. "This is where I found them. Butler and Sensat. Sensat lasted only a few more seconds after I arrived, but Butler held on.

"I tried to get medi-gel on him, but he had been bleeding out too long. He told me to tell his wife he was sorry he wasn't coming home like he promised, but that he had died to make Omega safer for her. Give the bastards hell, his last words were."

She remembered the message she had received from Nalah Butler back during the suicide mission, pleading with her to take care of Garrus, convince him the fates of his squad weren't on him. Easier said than done. "But we did. You did right by them."

"Sometimes I'm still not so sure."

Shepard lifted herself up from the floor, approaching him. "You can't second guess yourself, Garrus. You'll drive yourself crazy doing that."

Garrus sighed, his shoulders sagged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. What's done is done. Have to move forward." He curled his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his side. "Still doesn't stop me from wishing things had gone differently with them from time to time. With Kan-Nyreen."

She rested her head on his armored shoulder. "Nothing ever will."

He squeezed her waist, but didn't ask what she was referring to. Not like she was limited in choices on that front.

A sudden image flashed out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head in the direction of the flash, spotting a console with Aria's image on it. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she stepped over to the console not far away from where they were currently standing. It was still working, showed no signs of damage. Aria was currently staring back at her, but she wasn't moving, almost as if someone had frozen the image.

"Looks like a recording," Shepard commented aloud, pressing a few buttons on the console to get it playing again. The image rewound for a few seconds before commencing.

"Citizens of Omega, here me. I, Aria T'Loak, have given you back your lives. My rule is reignited. My hand is on the controls once more," she said, her booming voice radiating her newly regained authority as leader. This must have been a broadcast from Afterlife, right after their departure from Omega.

"Dramatic as always," Garrus couldn't help but interject.

"Each of you owes a debt. Gain my favor by rounding up the remaining Cerberus invaders and…"

Hunt the traitors down? String and quarter any Cerberus troops unlucky enough to still be breathing?

"...And we will cast them from our home. Then bury and mourn our dead."

Shepard had to keep her jaw from hitting the floor. Of all the things she thought Aria would do, that had definitely not been what Shepard was expecting. Not after the parting they had received from her. She had sounded so certain, unswayed.

What had caused this incredible turn-around?

She barely had time to send Garrus a disbelieving look before Aria started up again.

"My methods haven't always been popular and I can't promise that will change, but securing this station and everyone inside it is now my primary purpose. No one will imprison us again! We may be bruised, we may be bloodied, but we are Omega!"

She couldn't believe it. She_ had_ had a more lasting impact on Aria.

Shepard, 2. Petrovsky, 0 on judge of character.

Maybe Shepard could try to talk to her about those resources, afterall.

"Inspiring, wasn't it?"

The sudden gruff (more importantly hostile) alien-sounding voice that did not belong to Garrus had Shepard spinning around while reaching for her gun. Her Locust drew even with that of Zuhayr's shotgun, intentionally aimed at Garrus to stop him from reaching his and stop any thought of her shooting at Zuhayr.

Clever bastard.

Why didn't they have their guns out in the first place? Massively poor planning on their part.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you came crawling back to Omega. Come to finish what you started in Afterlife?"

"Only if you popped your head out where I could see it," came Garrus's tense yet droll response.

Zuhayr then glanced over at Shepard, as it noticing her presence for the first time. "Surprised to see you with him, Commander. Thought you would be otherwise detained," he remarked, remorseless eyes falling on her belly.

"Where the hell have you been hiding this whole time?" Shepard demanded, refusing to lower her weapon, even if she couldn't fire back. It made her feel better to have the small amount of protection it offered.

"In the tunnels. Did you honestly think I wouldn't find out about them?"

While she was glad to know she hadn't been paranoid for no reason, she almost wished she had been.

"I don't know what you hope to gain by killing us. Everyone's seen you're not as infallible as you believe yourself to be. Your merc gang has been disbanded. You don't have anyone to impress anymore."

Zuhayr took a step forward, the slight limp as he did so not escaping her. So he hadn't evaded Aria's forces unscathed. "They will eventually. Aria's talk of mercy and cooperation will only last for so long. She'll be back to abusing those under her banner again. They will come flocking back. Especially once they see what I've done to you."

It was Garrus's turn to object. "Like you're any better?"

"It's not a question of better. It's who gets results. Does what is necessary." His lips curled, his malevolent sneer aimed at her. "Just as I did on Mindoir."

It was official. Fate had a cruel, twisted sense of humor.

Her breath caught and she felt her heart skip a few beats the moment he said the name of her childhood home. Shock quickly turned to rage, blinding rage she hadn't felt in years. Swore she wouldn't let herself feel again. "You were on Mindoir?"

"Commanded one of the grounds team," he replied, waving his gun around. "We caught the humans completely off guard. But you already know that, don't you, Shepard?"

Oh did she know all too well. They came so quickly there was never time for an alert to be raised around the colony. Sure they had done some drills in preparation, but it had all been more for peace of mind. There was no political gain in attacking Mindoir, a random farming colony out in the middle of the Traverse, with no wealth or valuable minerals to mine off. Most hadn't taken the idea of a raid seriously.

"What happened on Mindoir was eye-opening, life changing. I had killed other mercs, human soldiers, but human civilians were a first. They were so fragile, so easy to...contain. That was the first I realized how intoxicating it was, to hold the power of determining someone else's fate in your hands. To end it with a single bullet. Or prolong it. Watch them scream as their flesh melts away from their bones. The power is yours, ripe for the taking," he finished, his tone throughout bordering on euphoric. Only serving to enrage Shepard further.

His four eyes had been glued on her the whole time, waiting to see how she would react to his manipulation (how like Petrovsky he was). She could also feel Garrus's eyes on her too.

There was a time, not that long ago, where she would have given anything (title and credits included) to have one of the batarian raiders in front of her. Put them through everything they made the colonists, her friends, her parents, suffer through, brain nodes and all. But she made that vow to herself, to never let anything compromise the morality she had built her entire career around. She had enough to keep her awake at night. If she crossed that bridge, gave into temptation, she may not be able to find her way back across.

But Zuhayr was doing a really good job tempting her with forbidden fruit begging to be taken.

"They were innocent people who were butchered for nothing!"

"We were sending a message. Interfere with our expansion, take planets that are ours, a price will be paid in blood."

Another lesson he took away from Mindoir, it seemed

"I can see why Tarak had you locked up."

Zuhayr didn't look insulted in the least. "No, you don't. I did nothing to him to provoke him, but he was always paranoid. You're wondering why he didn't kill me," he said at the suspicious look that popped up on her face. "Because he saw me as an asset to be exploited when it suited him more than any real danger. I played my part well, didn't give him any reason to kill me, but he still didn't free me." Though he had still kept his voice level, it was certainly the most fervent Shepard had heard it, signaling his imprisonment was something he still carried with him.

He paused until he regained control over himself, yet his next words made him sound even more unbalanced. "He didn't enjoy having the power, you know. That's why he failed in the end. He was ambitious, did what was necessary, but had nothing to show for it. Yet I got all three gangs to come together under one banner willingly, something he could dream of doing. It's the power. You have to crave it, want it, relish the sight of someone dying before your eyes."

His reasoning made no sense; it merely made him sound completely sociopathic. Probably why Tarak had him locked up in the first place, but Shepard wasn't wasting too much brain power in figuring out Zuhayr or why he was imprisoned. She was too busy from giving into the urge to beat this sick bastard within an inch of his life.

Shepard could feel the shaking throughout her body that had nothing with a return of aftershocks and everything to do with keeping her anger under control. She had spent so much time worrying about Garrus losing control, she hadn't thought about guarding herself. Suddenly it was no longer about saving Garrus from Zuhayr (he seemed to doing well enough for the moment). It was about saving herself.

Her finger was right on the trigger.

One shot. That's all she'd need, a little voice whispered seductively in the back of her mind. She didn't need to butcher him. All she needed was one bullet, nice and clean to the head. She wouldn't be compromising herself. He was just another criminal, nothing more.

Didn't she want justice?

Her finger curled around the trigger, pressing down bit by bit. All she needed was one more push…

Then the realization hit her: Zuhayr still had his shotgun pointed at Garrus, even though his attention was still on her. She could see his own finger twitching at the trigger. If she fired, he'd be damn sure to fire one too before he went down.

Getting revenge would not be worth that price.

Nothing was worth that.

And Zuhayr knew that.

"I should fucking blow your head clean off," Shepard managed to get out, but made no move to do so, easing off the trigger.

"Such restraint," Zuhayr sneered at her. "But foolish."

In a blur, Zuhayr swung his shotgun in her direction, but before he or Shepard could get a shot off at the other, a concussive round from Garrus made Zuhayr falter, allowing enough time for Shepard and Garrus to dart for cover in the form of one of the couches nearby. Though ensuring protection, they were effectively boxed in and pinned down until Zuhayr could be dealt with.

As Shepard flew behind the safety of the couch (which Shepard knew would not offer protection for long, only being made of cloth and stuffing, materials hardly bullet-proof), pain shot right through her belly. She clutched it with both arms, willing it to stop with eyes shut tight as if that would somehow make it happen. The movements had been too fast, too vigorous for her wound, but what were her other options? So much for the pill keeping the pain at bay.

Garrus noticed her in pain, his mandibles and face plates tightening. "Damn it, I'm…"

"Don't say you're sorry, Garrus. You saved my ass, nothing else matters." At least the wound hadn't reopened.

Though still not pacified, he shut his mouth and poked his head out behind the couch to fire a few rounds from his rifle, only to duck back down when a shotgun bullet passed over his head.

"You aren't going to waste this opportunity, are you, Archangel? Come on out and take it," Zuhayr taunted over the blast of the shotgun.

"What's the plan?" Garrus asked, doing a good job ignoring him despite the darkening of his eyes.

"Give him what he wants. Then I'll come around from behind, knock him out," Shepard ground out, though she didn't even know if she could stand for that long.

"Too dangerous to leave him alive," Garrus said, this time visibly tensing when Zuhayr taunted him again, but still no sign of wanting to bolt from cover and butcher him. He was staying true to his vow to forego his Archangel persona and she couldn't be prouder of him.

"We'll give him to Aria as a peace offering." It was the most sensible option. No reason to get on Aria's bad side anymore than they already were.

Though still in doubt, Garrus agreed to do it her way, his eyes silently reminding her to be careful.

Like she needed any other reminder than the pain she was currently experiencing.

Activating tactical cloak, she pushed herself up off the floor and blocked out the pain long enough to see her through this. While Garrus did his best to distract Zuhayr with shouts of tearing Zuhayr's head off, she made her way to him until she was right behind him. She had to act fast before the cloak deactivated or before her body gave out under her again.

She raised the blunt end of her pistol above her head, preparing to strike it down on him when she heard it. Her mother's screams.

Saw her father's head caved in over and over again.

Smelled the sulfur in the air.

Tasted the blood running down her face.

Felt the hand of a batarian on her, forcibly moving her face to and from as he inspected her.

Remembered poor Talitha and what they had put her through as their slave from six to nineteen.

She flipped the gun until her finger landed on the trigger, her arm lowering it back down as she took aim. Her brain had completely shut off, running on pure emotion, her prior argument about placating Aria not even clicking. Her vow to stay on the straight and narrow, all her efforts and lectures to keep Garrus the same, suddenly didn't mean anything to her. And she didn't even realize it.

Garrus wasn't in certain danger this time. Nothing to stop her from doing it.

One shot, as she readied herself to pull the trigger, before she had time to think it through.

That's all she need…

Before Shepard could even blink, let alone react, a biotic blast of energy swept Zuhayr off his feet. He let nothing more than a shocked cry before he flew out of the opening of the room down to the ground floor below head first. The force of the blast so close to her had Shepard off her feet and on her back, the tactical cloak, disappearing in a sputter. There she lay, still in shock over what she had been about to do, the bloodlust that had come over her.

Garrus was over to her in a heartbeat, thinking by her lack of movement she was hurt again. She allowed him to help her get up, but didn't say anything as he scanned her for any further injuries.

She didn't react until she heard another gunshot from below. She went over to the opening, relying on the sill again to bear her weight. She watched in silence as Aria T'Loak stalked towards the stairs from Zuhayr's prone form. Seeing no twitch, grunt, intake of breath or spotting the awkward angle of his neck hadn't been good enough, it seemed.

It didn't long for Aria to make her way up and saunter towards them, her biotic flare cooling down and disappearing. She still fixed them with a cold stare. "I thought I told you never to return."

"Remembered I had something personal to take care of."

"And yet I find you here, at your old base, in a firefight with my kill."

"Lay off him, Aria," Shepard finally spoke, breaking away from the sight of Zuhayr's body and getting a grip. "We weren't going to kill him." Originally. "And that's not what he came here for."

"Maybe you noticed all the charges we placed over the base before you blasted Zuhayr out the window."

"Yes I did happen to notice." Her cold eyes were overpowered by sparks of triumph flashing within them. "You know I figured you would come back." Had it been that obvious to everyone except her? "Which is why I ordered Bray to find you and impart certain bits of information to you."

Bray hadn't sought Garrus out on his own? He hadn't been going against Aria? That could only mean…

"You used us as bait. You knew Garrus wouldn't resist coming back, you knew Zuhayr hadn't left the base," Shepard accused.

"I didn't know anything, Shepard. I just assumed. Turns out I was right. You don't play the game as long as I have by standing idly by. Sometimes you have to force things into motion."

"And here we thought you had turned a corner," Garrus remarked drolly.

Aria gave a dark laugh. "You mean my little speech?" she asked, gesturing to the frozen image of her on the console screen. "Turns out I walk around with Shepard for a few hours and I go all soft. You're like a disease." Shepard didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or not, but at least Aria didn't seem as upset about Petrovsky.

"It's not soft to recognize victory came at a cost, Aria," Shepard said, not needing to reference what or more appropriately who.

"You sound just like Nyreen, always trying to sell something," Aria said, still with dark amusement. "I admire your tenacity."

"You didn't sound like you admired one thing about me when we left Omega."

"I'll admit I was angry. About Nyreen, about Petrovsky. I had been waiting to kill that man for months and I…" she trailed off, her eyes shifting, unable to voice it, an admission that she intentionally showed mercy. "You rubbed off on me, I suppose. And I didn't like it." Clearly.

"Regardless," she continued, ending her heart-felt confession before it even had time to blossom. "I cannot argue with how things have turned out. Now that Zuhayr has been dealt with, my reign is assured. No one is strong enough to challenge my authority. Filling the void left by Nyreen as Talon leader will be…difficult, but not impossible," Aria said, recovering from the slip, but still obvious it wasn't just about losing Nyreen's alliance, even if it wasn't admitted out loud.

"It may take some time to remove the General's stink from my throne." A lazy smirk crossed her face. "Or to enjoy the pole dancing in Afterlife again."

"I just hope you remember everything Omega's civilians have been through in between watching that pole dancing and cleaning your throne."

"How could I forget?" Aria answered Garrus. "The scorch mark on the floor of Afterlife will always be there to remind me if I do."

Another lapse in her cold mask she allowed them to see, but Shepard was not surprised at its shortness when she abruptly stated she'd better get back to Afterlife.

"I've decided to honor our arrangement," Aria stated, typing something on her omni-tool. "Troops, ships and a mountain of eezo are yours to do as you see fit. You've earned it after today."

"And if we hadn't come back?" Shepard questioned.

"I still would have given them to you. As I said, you rubbed off on me."

She could have gotten more into Aria's questionable practices of using Garrus and her as bait and risking their lives without their consent, but Shepard chose to let it go. Last thing she wanted was to cause Aria to negate on her word. She couldn't pass up on Aria being generous.

Aria nodded to the both of them as a farewell. She turned on her heel to leave the room, but paused in the middle of the doorway.

"One more thing," she said over her shoulder. "Don't ever stick your fucking nose in Omega's affairs on your own again."

Close enough to a "Don't fuck with Aria" threat to take it seriously. Whether that was directed at her or Garrus, Shepard couldn't tell. Probably didn't matter.

"Definitely not how I saw this playing out an hour ago…" Garrus muttered. "You ready to go too?"

Shepard faced him, laying her hand on his cheek, running her thumb over his mandible in a circle. "Only if you are."

Garrus pressed into her touch, resting one hand over her wrist, the other searching around his armor compartments until he found what he was looking for, cradling the detonator in his other hand.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

After a few minutes to give Shepard a chance to catch her breath and make sure Aria wasn't still milling about the base (probably not the best idea to try and blow her up too, nothing good would come of that), they made their way out of the room and down the stairs, Shepard clutching the railing the whole way down. The pain in her gut had thankfully died down to a dull ache.

She tried not to look at Zuhayr once they reached the ground floor, but they had to go right by him and she stopped in her tracks. The sight of his broken body brought everything back, what she almost did, wrestling unsuccessfully with her feeling of dark satisfaction at his dead body to lock it away.

"Jane?"

She forced her legs to move away as fast as she could away from the body, so she wouldn't have to look at his lifeless, almost triumphant eyes anymore, feel that rise of contentment. She couldn't take pleasure in this, no matter how much he asked for it. She was supposed to be better than that.

Garrus finally caught up to her outside the entrance to the base after crossing the bridge, asking her what was wrong.

"Nothing. Can we just get back to the Normandy?" she softly implored.

Thankfully, Garrus did not press her, leading her up the ramp and down the hallway a little bit, to put more distance between them and the base, even though the charges were only designed to destroy the base and the immediate surrounding area.

"Maybe there'll be a skycar nearby so we don't have to walk all the way back through another tunnel. Was it too much to hope Aria would be even more generous and give us a lift? Maybe leave us a car in the lot?"

Though she appreciated him trying to cheer her up, she couldn't manage anything more than a small smile, still too shaken.

Garrus forced them to stop with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "For someone who says nothing bothering her, you're not doing a good job convincing me, so you might as well tell me."

"I almost shot him, Garrus," she willingly blurted out before she could take it back and hide it away. "I wasn't going to. I knew Aria would have even less reason to like me if I did. But then everything, all the memories from Mindoir came back again, and I… I couldn't fight it. I swore I would never feel like that again. I didn't _want _to feel like that again. But I didn't care. If Aria hadn't come when she did, I…" She buried her face in her hands so he couldn't see the shame on her face. "I worked so hard to save you and then I can't even save myself…"

She felt her hands being removed gently from her face, her chin tipped up with two talons so she'd have to look at him. "There's nothing to be ashamed about. He deserved nothing less and Mindoir is a sore spot for you. It's only natural."

"But…"

Garrus silenced her with a quick brush of his brow plates to her forehead, giving it an affectionate nuzzle. "If you're worried I'll think less of you, you're wrong. You don't have to be perfect all the time just because you set such high expectations for yourself."

"It's too late to change them now. Now that the entire galaxy thinks I'm some kind of super paragon."

"Look at this way. If you falter, it gives me an excuse to return the favor the times you've done it for me. Make me feel all heroic. And then I get to comfort you afterwards."

"Like you need an excuse for that?" Shepard asked, nuzzling his brow back, trusting him to guide her back if she lost her way, though she would do everything in her power to prevent it from happening again. Just as she would always be there to guide him.

She pulled away with a tired sigh. She couldn't allow herself to get hung up on this. "I'm sorry, Garrus. I've made this trip about me when it was supposed to be about you."

"Considering how forgiving you were at me leaving the Normandy without telling you, don't think I have any room to complain," he said, tucking stray strands behind her ears. "And as you like reminding me, we're king and queen. We're supposed to take care of each other."

"Yes, yes we are." Shepard reached down to the hand still clutching the detonator, folding hers over his and squeezing it in thanks. "And don't think you're so easily off the hook about that, by the way. I'm expecting you to make it up to me."

With her hand still on his, he uncapped the detonator so the red button was now visible. "I'm sure I can figure something out."

She laid her thumb on his talon, only pressing down together at the silent nod of his head, both breathing sighs of relief when it was finally done.

They didn't even look back when the first charge went off. Or the next one after that. Or when the structure began to collapse on itself, burying every last reminder of Garrus's past life as the Archangel of Omega, along with Shepard's lapse in control, with it. They kept on moving forward, back to the Normandy, where their reign as king and queen of the bottle shooters could resume.


End file.
